Animorphs 55 The Madness
by BluJ
Summary: The sequel to the Animorphs series.
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

My name is Toby Hamee.

I am a Hork-Bajir living on a planet called Earth, staring up at the distant stars.

My friends are up there.

Friends, you ask? The Animorphs - or at least what is left of them. They are in a battle from which they may not return. The feeling of guilt had been clawing its way through me ever since they left, gnawing on the fact that I was stuck down her chewing on an old piece of bark, whilst they fought for theirs and many other people's lives.

Then again, if I were up there risking my life I would feel just as guilty for not being here with my friends and family. They needed me for their own protection. Protection not from war, disease or invasion, but from a heated political climate that debated on how and where we lived on our new home.

I tried to blank out the guilt and stared into deep space, feeling the soft heat of the nearby fire tan my side. I looked to my left and I saw trees. A lake covered in the shadow of the night. Dim torches from a distance traced the cities neighbouring our home, and they looked like the stars, flickering with foreign glows reflected in the water beneath.

I turned my head right to see my friends and family. They were sitting around the fire warming themselves, telling stories and anything else they would do to entertain themselves. They showed no fear, but they knew nothing about what cursed me with guilt. I never told them, my mother aside.

I thought it would be better if they did not know. Instead, I preferred for them to play and sleep, blissfully unaware with no worry but for daily life. They needed the break, and so did I.

You see, I am what they call a seer. I am a not like the others, for I can see things that they cannot. I was born to help them - a guide, if you will. They looked up to me and I did what I could for them.

My great-grandfather was also a seer. Dak Hamee, a Hork-Bajir brave enough to guide an entire army into impossible battles. He did it with pride, doing all he could to save them. They gave the yeerks a battle right to the end.

We were doomed. There was not a free Hork-Bajir for years, decades, until the Animorphs, a group of six young individuals saved us, hiding and protecting two escaped Hork-Bajir. Those two escapees, my mother and father, helped revive us into the thriving population we have today.

Our people, after the war, were moved to an area on the outer rim of Yellowstone, and we continued to expand our numbers. We liked it here. The area was vast, the trees plentiful, and it was easy to adapt to our surroundings. It has become the perfect environment. We have everything we need.

Unfortunately, I was not always here to marvel at my new home. My self-proclaimed duty to protect had earned me a place in politics. The House of Representatives, to be precise. I could spend weeks away, sometimes even months attending large gatherings that could only be described as tedious. Barely a year into politics, and I had grown a disliking of it. Not a day would go by when a camera or a bill was shoved before my snout. However, I tended to stay neutral on issues that did not involve my people. It was not my place to comment on the rights of the humans, hence why I was only a non-voting member of the House.

I longed for the day it would end, but responsibility was all that mattered to me nowadays.

Once again I stared up at the bright stars. I was laying a few metres from the group, by an old dead tree that had fallen in high winds. I would usually spend time on my own to think and observe, but tonight I did not feel like it. It only reminded me of my friends who had risked everything for me and my people. I wanted to be happy, to feel that there was nothing to worry about.

I got up and slowly waddled over to the camp where my friends and family were sat. Some were talking and laughing amongst themselves, while others were sleeping out of reach of the dim fire light, heads held on their chests as they snored quietly. It was getting late.

The circle was formed just in front of a large cave carved out of a rock surface, big enough for an entire family to live in. The fire was set a few metres away from the entrance on a large pile of fallen leaves and uneaten bark.

At daytime, you could look along the rocks and notice it was dotted with more. Whenever conditions would take a turn for the worse, we would shelter in the caves until we could move out again. In good conditions, we could either sleep up in the trees or, as some were doing now, sleep around the campfire we set every night.

There were many stories to tell since the war ended, with the vast majority of our population having experienced life as a controller. Those that had a yeerk slug slither into their head and wrap itself around their brain, taking over all senses, controlling every move and sound they made, as they screamed and begged in the back of their own mind. We were hearing another such story tonight.

I found a gap in the circle next to my mother, and squeezed myself in.

Mother is roughly the same height as me, though she had a smaller tail and smaller, darker blades on her arms and legs. Beside her sat my little brother, shorter than both of us by a few inches perhaps, not yet fully grown. He was born not long before our father died. I feel that it had affected him. He seemed incomplete.

I made myself comfortable and let my legs rest out in front of me, using my tail for balance. My mother turned to face me and gave a shrewd look - I must have seemed unhappy.

"Toby Hamee sad"

She always knew if I had a problem. Then again, she was my mother. I faced her and forced a smile. "I am fine, just… tired"

"Toby scared of battle."

She was the only other Hork-Bajir here who knew about the Animorphs leaving. I had told her last night in our cave while it was raining. I couldn't sleep.

My smile faded. I gazed into her worried eyes and she stared back. "Something will go wrong."

She shuffled closer. "They come back. Jake fine. Marco fine. Tobias fine. All fine." She gave me that motherly smile which gave me so much comfort. "Toby worry too much."

She would be right. Perhaps I really was just worrying too much. "Thank you Mother."

"Ket always here for Toby."

My Mother had been my guide ever since I first opened my eyes. Even as a seer I had to look up to someone.

A new voice arose behind us, distorted slightly by the roaring flame. "Toby?"

I turned to look over my shoulder. In the light of the flames I could just make out Cassie's silhouette.

I got up and walked over to her. "Hello Cassie."

"Hi Toby, how are things?"

I forced on a smile, "I am fine. And how are you, Cassie?"

She grinned, baring her white human teeth, "I'm great! Ronnie's taking me to dinner tonight._Le__restaurant__Vieux Paris._"

"That sound wonderful. I hope it you enjoy it."

"We have to treat a wolf we found before we go though. It's been a busy day."

Cassie has always been into animal care. She rescues them from around the local area and takes them to her own animal clinic for rehabilitation. Saving and releasing injured animals always puts her in a good mood.

"I hope I'm not distracting you from anything…" She looked embarrassed.

I shuffled myself so that my backside rested on a flatter surface. It is harder for me to see in the dark, which meant that it was harder to find a relatively comfortable spot. "Distracting me?"

"Well you were sitting with Ket."

Ket was looking back at us. It appeared that she was eager to speak to Cassie, but she stayed sat down and decided not to interrupt. "We were just talking."

Cassie hesitated and lowered her head. "I guess you're worried too."

"Yes, I am"

She looked into my eyes and I looked back into hers as well as the fire light would allow.

"I'm sure everything will be fine. They will be back in a few days. I just feel a little guilty for not being with them."

"You have things to do here. The clinic needs you. Ronnie needs you"

"I know." She moved to a log on the ground and sat down on it, holding up her head with her palms. "I guess since the end of the war, we all kind of… fell apart"

She was right. After the war, the Animorphs went their separate ways, with Jake and Tobias coming off seemingly the worst. Jake fell into depression. His brother had died, as had his cousin Rachel. Tobias had not forgiven Jake for Rachel's death, and everyone thought he had disappeared, though he had recently started coming to see my people again. He talked to me and the other Hork-Bajir often.

I knew what Cassie feared. She feared not just for the outcome of any battle the Animorphs faced, but for the relationships held between them. They may break up again when they return. This thought upset Cassie deeply.

"Everything will be just fine. You will see." I knew this may not turn out true, and I felt agitated for putting in my own false hope, but I wanted to make her feel better. "While they are gone, you have Ronnie."

"Thanks Toby. I guess a meal tonight with Ronnie will make me feel better. It will take my mind off of it."

"How is Ronnie?" I asked, trying to bring up a more light-hearted conversation.

"He seems nervous. I think tonight's going to be a very special dinner." She grinned.

I joined. "You think…?"

She nodded like she knew.

"He's going to propose?"

"I can feel it."

I had learned a lot from Cassie recently. She often took me out into the dense human habitat to show me how they lived and their unusual culture. Humans were amazing, but strange. Very strange.

I was once told that I was 'The Devil', which was surprising considering I was sitting in the Whitehouse at the time, surrounded by the political leaders of the country. I was even threatened with a lawsuit after someone tripped over my stray tail by the Washington Monument.

Our most recent visit though was to a building called a church. It was terribly boring. I had to sit quietly in a hidden corner so to attract as little attention as possible, and I swore I could have ripped my own head off. I was interested for maybe the first quarter of an hour, but it was irritating sitting in a cold tight corner, trying hard to make out echoing words spoken at the other side of the room. I decided to leave towards the end, but the crowd was not expecting a two-metre Hork-Bajir to stumble out of a corner in the middle of a service. I apologised and left rather embarrassed.

Cassie later explained to me the purpose of the gatherings. Sometimes weddings would take place there and a couple would become husband and wife. From what I have heard, human marriage is far more complex than Hork-Bajir marriage. I knew a lot more about these weddings now.

I noted that I was drifting from reality, and quickly came back to the conversation "And would you accept?"

She grinned. It was enough of an answer. Her eyes traced over the group huddled around the fire. "How's the little guy?"

I knew where she was looking. At the far end of the group sat a female holding a small Hork-Bajir in her arms. She had given birth a few hours earlier, and Cassie had helped deliver the newborn. He sat curled up and asleep in his mother's arms.

"He is fine, though he still does not have a name. The parents are exhausted after today. Too tired for such a decision." I turned to face her. "Thank you for helping."

"It's no problem Toby, really. I love to help you guys, and I have time for things like that now since we hired new staff for the clinic."

"Is that why you have spent so much time with us recently?"

"Yeah. Since we've hired so many I've been able to do different things. In fact, how about tomorrow I take you out to see a parade? There's one starting tomorrow, around midday in the city. My treat."

"That is very nice of you. I would love to go" I grinned in the fire light. "But… what is a parade?"

"You'll see when we get there." She got up onto her feet. "Anyway, I think I should check up on the newborn. Talk to Jer, perhaps. I'm sure she will have a few things to say about her new baby." Cassie began to walk away, and then swivelled to face me. "You look tired. Maybe you should rest for a bit."

"Yes. I think I will go to my tree."

She walked away from me and over to the camp, and she sat down next to Jer who looked lazily at her, gleaming in the light. She was happy, and what was there to stop that? She was free. Her baby was free. We were all free.

I watched as the little Hork-Bajir opened a large eye, slowly and curiously. He soon decided to crawl away, perhaps spotting some food nearby. He lost his balance and fell back onto Cassie's lap, who cushioned his fall and lifted him into her arms. He smiled and quickly made himself comfortable, falling back to sleep.

I watched them sitting there. Peaceful. It is what we had always wanted, but deep down inside I knew things were not all right. Not yet, anyway. I craned my neck upwards to look up at the night sky, watching the owls fly past, the occasional aeroplane and the flickering stars.

My eyelids began to droop and I let out a big yawn. An hour or so passed before I walked over to my own tree, a few dozen metres away from the fire. The green leaves seemed to shine in brilliant shades of gold, rustling in the gentle night breeze. Fluttering, distant laughter wove into the wind to form an atmospheric, almost dreamy and ambient sound.

I climbed slowly up the side of the tree and pulled myself onto a large branch strong enough to hold my weight, let my limbs droop over the side and rested my snout on the smooth bark. I closed my tired eyes and let the noises take me away.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

I woke to the sound of birds.  
Scratching the sleep from my eyes, I lifted my head and looked around the park. The fire that had burned through the night had shrunk to ashes, and there was no one around to be seen. I stretched my muscles while keeping hold of the small branch before wrapping my claws around it to slowly drop to the ground. I walked sleepily over to my families cave and peered inside. Nobody was in.  
Rubbing the back of my neck, I tried to think where they could be. Maybe I had just overslept and the group had already gone off to harvest new bark. My tail shook off a stray leaf or two before I walked up to the nearest collection of trees at the near-side of the camp where the sun shone brightest. The group often went this way to find food so I sniffed around trying to catch their scent.  
There was a branch low to the ground that looked to have recently been trodden on, so I investigated.  
Yes! They had come this way.  
I jumped up further into the tree and began making my way through the dark, following the scent of the others.  
This is what I enjoyed most in the mornings - swinging through the trees. Sometimes I would travel for hours, simply for the fun of moving at high speeds over and under the miles of branches. Often I would get lost, but it did not matter, it just meant that I could have more fun aimlessly flying between the trees. It made me happy at the worst of times.  
A Hork-Bajir learns to travel through trees at a very early age, usually after around 1 or 2 months. My father used to say that I was especially quick to learn. We learned by watching our mothers, clutching tight to her belly as she glided swiftly through the trees. Then, our parents would let us roam at their sides until we were confident enough to travel unsupervised. Of course, the parents would watch us, but from a significant distance. It was all about confidence.  
After a few minutes of searching and sniffing, I could sense them clearly, and I knew that they were close. They would be nearby and already started with the day's work. I could not tell how long they had been here. It could have been minutes, or it could have been hours. Either way, they would wonder where I had been, and I started to feel the usual guilt that came with sleeping-in during the harvesting hours. It was the norm that I was always first to wake up and they would never expect a seer such as myself to be late. Sometimes I wondered whether their expectations were too high.  
The trees suddenly disappeared as I came to a clearance. I slowed down, jumped onto a low branch and began looking into the large open area. It was surrounded by a circle of beautiful trees and filled with lush green grass, a lovely little collection of wildlife and colourful plants. Just as expected, the group was here and hard at work.  
There were two Hork-Bajir to each tree. One would strip off bark from near the top of the tree and pass it down to the second, who in turn took bark from lower down using their leg blades, and would place all of the bark by the bottom of the tree with their tail. Some Hork-Bajir collected the bark from the tree bases and placed it in the centre of the clearing.  
We would strip enough bark to last the day to make sure that we did not run the area dry. We even made sure we planted seeds when the opportunity arose. This was an efficient process.  
The group looked organised and it was pleasing to see. At this rate they should have been finished in minutes. They did not really require my assistance.  
I could have gone back to the camp to sleep. I was still tired. They would not mind if I took a little nap back in my tree.  
I grappled the nearest branch and prepared to leap back into the mass of trees, just as a face poked around the side of the pine I was sat on. He eyed me over and crawled up close, clamping himself onto the trunk.  
"Hello Toby Hamee!"  
"Hello Bek."  
He hesitated for a while, as if figuring something out. A big grin appeared on his face. "Toby late. Toby sleep." He began to laugh.  
Bek was a good friend of mine. We had known each other since we were little, both cooped up within a hidden valley before the war ended. I was slightly older than him, perhaps by a couple of months. Nevertheless, he would enjoy teasing me whenever he got the chance. I guess he is, as a human would say, 'cute', though I was not interested in him such a way.  
He realised that I had overslept and must have found it rather funny. He jumped onto the branch I was standing on and moved next to me. "Toby never late."  
"I was tired and I have not been sleeping well. Not lately anyway." I looked over the grassland, and I quickly noticed the number of Hork-Bajir there. The trees were crawling with them. "Bek, how many are here?"  
He paused to absorb the question, and then he followed my gaze. He pointed downwards towards our group who was busy collecting bark from the trees below. "Us." Then he looked around the area and narrowed his eyes. After a few seconds of silence he turned to me and grinned. "Lots."  
Well, I guess I was not expecting much more of an answer.  
"Lots and lots." He continued. "Group from that way." He pointed over to the trees at the other end of the opening. "And that way." He pointed in another direction. "Gather. Big feast."  
There was more than just our group here. From what I saw, there were at least four separate groups harvesting the trees, and with the amount of bark we were collecting, it was easy to see how busy it would be at the campfire tonight.  
The Hork-Bajir had been split into groups spreading over an area of Yellowstone Park. Each group moved to its own harvesting area, yet stayed within about a kilometre of each other. This way, trees weren't over-stripped, but we stayed close enough together to communicate without problems. Today though, the groups had decided to harvest together, and whenever groups harvested together, they feasted together as well.  
"And this feast is at our camp?" I asked.  
He nodded.  
"Will you be joining us?"  
He thought about it, then shook his head.  
"No? Where will you be?"  
"In tree."  
I felt slightly disappointed, for I always enjoyed his company.  
"Toby want play? Swing?" He grabbed a branch up above with one strong arm.  
"No, thank you. I need to rest." Then I smirked playfully. "You still have a lot of work to do."  
He laughed, and in a flash, he shot back down the trunk and disappeared below.  
I sat down on the branch and gazed up into the colourful morning sky. I leaned my back against the trunk of the tree and let my tail drop and sway below me. I just wanted to relax. Maybe I would skip the feast tonight, just crawl up my tree and get a good night's sleep. No one would mind.  
I felt myself starting to drift off into sleep, but just as the last thoughts escaped my head, something tugged on my tail. I lifted it up onto the branch and held it against my chest. I didn't want to be disturbed.  
"Toby Hamee?"  
The voice caused me to jump and almost fall from the tree. I looked left and right but saw no one. "Hello?"  
A face - an unknown face - was peering down at me from above. He was young, perhaps a year old. He jumped down and landed clumsily on the branch just in front of me.  
I tried to put on a polite face, but frankly I was not in the mood. I must have looked terribly agitated.  
He was holding a large chunk of bark in both his hands, and he turned to face me, using his tail to balance his self on the struggling branch. "Hello Toby Hamee!"  
I did not recognise him. He would have been from a neighbouring group. However, he certainly recognised me. He was ecstatic, bouncing playfully on the end of the branch.  
"Hello." I said back to him.  
"Toby sleep?" He asked as he started to calm down. Maybe he was slowly getting the hint that I did not want to be disturbed.  
I steadily got up onto my feet and moved up to him. "No, I was not sleeping. Do you want help?"  
"Sha find bark." He handed me the large chunk he was holding. "New bark."  
So this was why he was so excited.  
"Good bark? Good to eat?" He questioned.  
I took the bark and began inspecting it. I rubbed my fingers across the rough surface, then with the underside of my hand, rubbed the smooth interior. I lifted it up to my snout and sniffed at it, licked it. It tasted fine. There was no apparent abnormality.  
"Where did you find this bark?" I asked him.  
"Big tree. By river. That way." He pointed.  
I handed him back the bark and gave him a friendly face. "This is good bark. It will taste nice."  
"Thank you Toby Hamee." He moved his attention to the slab of bark and inspected it himself. Then, he used an elbow blade to swiftly slice the bark in half, and held a piece up to me. "Tree have lots. Toby Hamee have some."  
"Thank you, Sha." I gently bowed my head forward and our blades met.  
This was a normal thing to do when I met another Hork-Bajir for the first time. Sometimes, it is just a way to show love to another. Walking around here through the trees, you would often see partners doing this on the ground below. In such a case, it is a clear sign to leave them alone... In this case however, it was to show friendship.  
We held there for a second, and then we drew our heads back. With a child's smile, he was gone.  
I looked at the bark once again, and I quickly came to the conclusion that I never seen this species before. Maybe the child had found an undiscovered area of the park. I lifted it to my nostrils and gave it another sniff, before closing my jaws around the soft edge. I held it in my mouth without biting, figuring the taste. It was easy on my tongue, and the taste…  
The taste!  
I had never experienced bark like this before, not even on the Hork-Bajir home world. I bit into it…  
My eyes went wide in shock, and my jaw almost dropped. I almost dropped my food. Thankfully I avoided such a disaster.  
I held the bark in my mouth for as long as I could before I instinctively swallowed. I even tasted it as the large chunks slithered down my throat, and I stood there in the tree, almost bawling in the pleasure.  
I wanted more, and my stomach rumbled in agreement. I grabbed onto a branch up above and swung myself up into the trees, following the direction in which Sha went.  
I began to follow what I thought was his scent. It led me away from home and around the far side of the harvesting area, going into a place I had never been to before.  
Decreasing my speed, I watched the background zoom past me, and I took in the smells and the sounds that flowed through my senses. This place was not too different from where I lived, but the trees were foreign. Maybe this was where the bark had come from…  
I stopped and glanced around the area. I was surrounded by unusual trees, ones that I hardly recognised. I felt the smell of new bark massage my nostrils.  
My stomach wanted food, and I could not disobey it.  
The tree I was stood on was fresh and unmarked. No Hork-Bajir were around to care for these, so they were grown long and rough. I shuffled over to the trunk of the tree to fetch a little snack.  
A noise. To my left.  
I turned to blink at the surrounding flora, and saw nothing but what I knew was already there.  
Trees. A bush. Bark.  
A tree wavered. I narrowed my gaze and waited to see if anything would appear behind the trunk.  
It was another Hork-Bajir. A male.  
He crept from behind the trunk and casually leant against an over-hanging branch, holding a large chunk of bark. He was only a few yards from where I stood, camouflaged against the trees. Looking closer, I saw clearly what he held. It was the new bark I was after. He opened his mouth to begin to eat, but froze as he noticed me. After a brief search with his eyes, his jaw closed, and he dropped the bark.  
I did not know him, but I crawled over, using my arms to support myself over the unkempt branches. I came to a stop about a metre from him, and noticed that he was roughly my age. His skin was a darker green all over and he had piercing red eyes which shone as if luminous in the light of the shone. His blades were well kept, and he owned a large, rather noticeable scar running down from the top of his belly and curving down over his front, ending beside his tail.  
He looked to me, then down at his bark, thinking. Then he reached over, offering the whole chunk of the bark to me.  
How could I refuse?  
I crawled up to him, taking the bark in my claws.  
"Thank you…" I did not know his name.  
"My name Tal Ganat."  
I stood and tried to regain my confidence. "My name is Toby Hamee."  
His eyes widened, and he looked over me once again. "Toby Hamee." He finally said in agreement. "You are different."  
I must have heard this a thousand times by now. "Yes. I suppose I am." The words came out sounding unusually meek.  
He pointed to the chunk of bark that he had given me. "Gift. For Toby Hamee."  
"Where did you get this bark?" I asked, rubbing my claws against the soft surface.  
"Tree by river." He rubbed his belly. "Good bark. Tasty."  
I nodded in agreement. "Are you from around here, Tal?"  
"Tal live near. At edge of trees." He spread his arms to indicate the area around us.  
"I have never seen you before. At least not from what I remember."  
"Tal know Toby." He replied. "Toby know Tal brother."  
"I do?"  
I thought about this, but it was not long before he interrupted.  
"Tal always want to meet Toby Hamee."  
I was rather flattered. "Why would you want to meet me?"  
"Toby save Hork-Bajir."  
I looked away in embarrassment. I rarely got this sort of attention.  
The Sun was high in the sky by now. Its beams shone past the leaves and into my eyes. I covered them with my arm and moved over to the shade of Tal's tree to stand beside him.  
"It is bright out today." I told him.  
"Yes. Humans loud when Sun is bright."  
I paused. He had reminded me of Cassie.  
"Tal, I have to go now." I turned and got ready to jump away.  
He quickly reacted and grabbed my arm. "Why Toby go? Not stay with Tal?"  
"I cannot stay. I need to find someone."  
He stood up straight from the branch, looking perked. "Tal come too?"  
I looked him in the eyes.  
They appeared strange as they shot into me. There was something there, something I had never seen before. Something powerful. I could not even begin to describe it.  
"Well…" I managed to say.  
Perhaps taking him would not be so bad. No Hork-Bajir has been taken directly into the centre of the human habitat known as the after hearing where I and Cassie were going, he would want to stay home. Either way, he could not be allowed to come with us.  
Why was I not saying no?  
"OK." I continued. "You can follow, but you must stay with me."  
He grinned. "Where we go?"  
"Away from the park. Somewhere you have never been before."  
He did not answer. I was already swinging back towards home before he could voice his confusion. I heard him swinging behind me as we flew through the trees, the bark lodged in my jaw to give me full mobility.  
We raced back to my camp and jumped from the trees onto the open grassland. Tal decided to look around at the scenery and introduce himself to my group, while I looked around for Cassie.  
She was not here. I squinted to look at the human clock barely visible in the distance. It was a tall building on the edge of the human habitat which I used to tell the time.  
Five-to-One!  
Maybe she had left without me. She may have thought that I did not want to go.  
"Did you see a human here?" I asked a male, Temef, who happened to be walking by.  
He seemed bemused by my question. After making my question clearer, he pointed over to a small, paved concrete path surrounded by a large fence where a group of humans stood holding cameras. They were tourists.  
"No, not those humans. A human who came here. To our camp." I asked.  
He thought for a moment. "Cassie come."  
"She did? Where is she now?"  
"She go. Wait for Toby. You go to Cassie. Go to…" He was stuck in thought, trying to remember the name of Cassie's Animal Rehabilitation Centre. That was where she would wait for me.  
I smiled to him. "Thank you. The building is called Cassie's Animal Rehabilitation Centre."  
He walked off, repeating the words to himself. Unnecessary to say that he was getting the words wrong, but I could help him with it when I got back.  
He wandered off with the rest of the group to spend the day in the trees, just as Tal walked up beside me.  
"We go now?"  
"Yes Tal." I glanced over to the large, white building that stood not far from the park. The Rehabilitation Centre. "We are going there."  
"Why go there?"  
"Because that is where my friend is. We are going to see her, and she will take us on a little tour."  
He cocked his head. "Human friend?"  
"Yes. A Human friend."


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

We decided to avoid the rowdy human tourists and instead took the scenic route, headed towards Cassie's Animal Rehabilitation Centre. Of course, the scenic route meant travelling a further distance, but the park was beginning to get busy, which meant that the shorter route would actually take an hour or two to travel. The crowds would hold us back to ask questions and take pictures - the usual tourist things.  
The Humans were only permitted to walk on a small path surrounded by short metal railings. They would mostly just talk to us, though some wanted to stroke us or touch our blades. I just assumed it was a human thing.  
We all knew well enough to avoid being touched. It would usually just be innocent stroking, but once that innocent stroking turned out to be a kidnapping of a young child. Thankfully, security was tight on that day, and the child was quickly returned to his parents. We were lucky.  
Since that day, Hork-Bajir do not allow Humans to get too close. They were untrustworthy and often dangerous.  
We swung our way through the trees, Tal a few paces behind. The trunks began to appear less frequent as we moved closer to the near-edge of the park, and I flung myself into the clearing that neighboured the Rehab Centre car park once we were close enough.

The car park was filled with maybe eight shining vehicles. Cars were, as I had discovered, vital to the human lifestyle, not only as a means of transport, but as a kind of symbol for their lifestyle. The lot was taken up mostly by SUV's.  
Cassie had a smaller car, however. It was bright blue, a colour which did not appear anywhere in the car park. Perhaps she had walked to work today.  
I looked past the shining cars and saw the Rehabilitation Centre, a large, brown building, only recently built that sat overlooking the nearby city. It had many windows stretching up five tiers, moving up to a slated roof. Inside were what appeared to be offices, storage rooms and long narrow halls. A few humans could be seen walking around the halls and offices, looking busy. Most wore brown or black suits, from what I could make out. Others wore all-white or more casual clothing.  
Clothes were yet another invention the humans used. It was made from soft material and came in many different colours and patterns. Humans wore them to keep warm when it was cold and to cover certain areas of the body that they deemed unsightly. I was always curious as to how, in warmer climates, they wouldn't overheat, but it never seemed to faze them. Then again, they were warm-blooded.  
Also, what could be so offensive about their bodies? We never hid ourselves. We had nothing to hide. Maybe the humans did...  
I shook my head and tried to concentrate. I was ecstatic after bounding my way here, and my mind had begun to wander. I strolled up to the tall hedge surrounding the car park and raised my long neck over the top to peer around. The sight of my own reflection in a car window made me jump.  
Tal, meanwhile, was keeping himself busy. He was halfway up a tree, slicing up some bark and sinking his teeth into it.  
I was quick to notice that I was still holding the piece he had given me. It was locked in my jaw. My tongue instinctively rubbed against the smooth surface.  
A minute or so later, the bark was gone, and I had a satisfied stomach.  
Tal moved up to my side as the last chunk slithered down my throat. "We go there?". He pointed a claw at the building.  
"Yes. I think she will be inside." I gave him a serious look to make sure he was listening. "Stay by my side, I do not want you to get lost outside of the park."  
He smiled cheerfully. "Tal not get lost. Always stay with Toby."  
I supposed that it was convincing enough.  
I leaped forward over the hedge and landed on the other side. Tal quickly followed, and we bounded into the centre of the car park.  
"Hot." Tal said, referring to the tarmac beneath our feet. It had heated in the bare Earth sun."Ground strange. Not like grass."  
"This is called Tarmac. It is a human invention. They use it so that they can move around in their cars." I directed his gaze over to the collection of brightly coloured vehicles nearby. "They are very fast. Be careful around them."  
Tal stopped in the middle of the car park and looked at the ground. "Tarmac." He repeated, and began stomping his foot. He then walked to the front of one of the cars and placed his hands on the bright metal. He was quick to retreat his hands with a shocked yelp. "Hot!" Backing away from the bonnet, he moved right into the path of an oncoming car. The driver in the front reacted quickly and pplied the brakes, bringing the car to a stop about a metre away from collision.  
Tal turned to face the car and jumped in horror. "Car attack Tal!" He leapt towards me and almost knocked me from my feet.  
The human in the car just stared in awe at the two out-of-place Hork-Bajir. I shouted my apologies as he sped off and ran Tal off the road and around the corner of the building.  
This little trip had already come close to disaster.  
"Tal not like cars." He explained, beginning to calm down.  
"You should have been more careful, Tal." I kept my voice quiet, so as not to draw any attention. "I think that from now on we should stay away from cars."  
He nodded in strong agreement.  
I swivelled my head to look along the side of the building. I saw the entrance nearby, a large glass box attached to the side of the building. At the top of this entrance was a long white banner, which read 'WELCOME TO CASSIE'S ANIMAL REHABILITATION CLINIC' in big red letters.  
Over the years I had learnt to read the English language. This skill was very useful, especially when outside of the park.  
We jogged over to the entrance and made our way through the rotating doors. As with most things Human, doors are a strange thing to us Hork-Bajir. Tal had not experienced rotating doors before, and was having trouble operating it. It took us a few minutes before we were both on the same side. I was already late to meet Cassie, and this just made me later.  
After passing through the glass entrance, we came through into a larger room, the main reception of the building. There was a large desk at one side and a collection of small plastic seats at the other. The walls were covered in small paintings and plaques, sparing room for the occasional flora and soap dispensers. A small number of humans were dotted around the room, the majority of them sitting in the unappealing plastic seats. There was a woman sitting behind the reception desk reading a file. I recognised her. She was here when I had my teeth checked after "accidentally" biting a rock.  
There was a Hork-Bajir ward here, the only one this side of the sanctuary. It was on the fourth floor and was blocked off from the rest of the building. They treated everything from broken bones to the Hork-Bajir equivalent of the flu.  
They also gave jabs.  
I hated the jabs.  
The female sitting behind the desk was called Sue. She looked up from her file and raised her eyebrows as she saw us.  
She was young, with long black hair which almost seemed to stretch under the desk where she sat. She also wore glasses over her big brown eyes, objects that humans wore to aid eyesight.

We walked as quietly as we could up to the desk, with the Human eyes in the room curiously dragging after us from the other side of the room.  
"Hello." Sue said, sounding forcefully cheerful. "How are you today?"  
The staff were always very kind to us here. They would try to instil confidence in us so that we would come back willingly when we were needed. It was usually very comforting, but I felt that it was put-on more often than not.  
Sue was always sitting behind the desk and always looking terribly bored. It was no wonder she had to force on a smile when someone came in.  
I was about to answer her question, but she was quick to interrupt. "Um… Where is your guide?" She questioned with a raised eyebrow. "You should know you are not allowed out of the park without your guide."  
"Sue, it is me. Toby Hamee."  
"Oh." She gave a look of embarrassment. For humans, this usually involves going slightly red in the face and averting the eyes. "Sorry, Toby, I didn't recognise you." She paused. "You should still come with your guide though. I don't care if you know your way around, you're still a Hork-Bajir."  
"I know, Sue, but I did not have time to find my guide. I am late."  
"You? Late?" She laughed.  
Human laughter is strange. It sounded like they were hyper-ventilating.  
"Yes. I am late. I overslept."  
She looked shocked. "That's rather unlike you Toby." She lay back in her chair and took a mug of steaming liquid in her hand. "So, what are you late for?"  
"I have come to meet Cassie. I was supposed to meet her in the park at midday, but I did not arrive in time. Did she come back here?"  
"Yeah, she did. She went upstairs to her office. She may be busy, but I'll check for you." She smiled and held up a phone to her ear before looking over at Tal. He was staring nervously at the humans across the room, not paying attention to us at all.  
Sue took the phone from her ear and spoke in a near-whisper, "Is he with you?"  
"Yes. This is Tal." I nudged Tal and he turned to face Sue.  
"Hello Tal." Sue said with a welcoming grin. "How are you?"  
"Tal happy. Tal with Toby. How are you?" he replied, repeating what Sue had said, though maybe over-exaggerating the 'you'.  
Maybe I should have been flattered. I smiled at him, nonetheless.  
"I'm bored Tal. Very bored." She was using Human humour, and Tal did not understand.  
"Tal help?" He offered.  
"Uh, no thanks." She took up the phone again and pressed several buttons, before starting a conversation with who I assumed was Cassie.  
"Hello - I have Toby here, says she's come to see you - She says she was late - OK - Alright - I'll make sure they do." She put down the phone, moved from behind the desk and signalled for us to follow.  
She took us through a narrow hallway and into an even larger room. There were more seats here, and many more humans. Between the seats were low wooden tables covered in small, colourful books and magazines. There was a water dispenser in the middle of the room, accompanied by a rotating fan. In a far corner was a small cushioned area filled with toys and human children shouting at the top of their lungs.  
Many of the humans were bored. They yawned, looked impatiently at the watches on their wrists. Some were fast asleep.  
This was the waiting room. And that usually meant a long, long wait.  
Before I became too uneasy, Sue took us to a distant side of the room, away from the human madness and to the Hork-Bajir waiting area. Thankfully, the accommodation was well thought-out. The seats were large enough, with extra room for our tails behind us; there was plenty of floor-space for those who did not want seats; and several plants and small trees decorated the area in an attempt to make us feel more at home. Being enclosed in a hot, busy room full of humans is far from fun, but the trees and plants made it somewhat bearable, especially since they blocked us from the sight of the humans.  
It was not that we did not want to see the humans, but that we did not want them to see us. We were here to be treated, not to be tourist attractions.  
"You two can stay here." Sue started. "Cassie is busy at the moment, but she should be down to collect you shortly." With that, she was gone. Tal and I were left to wait.  
I glanced over to the clock, and it said 2:00. I looked away and closed my eyes.  
I opened them again and this time the clock said 2:30. I had slept.  
There was a heavy weight rested up against my side. I turned to see Tal, fast asleep, leaning partly against my arm and shoulder.  
Cassie was still not here. Maybe I could just have another nap until she came…  
I turned my head over to rest against the wall behind me.  
"Ah!"  
I jerked and threw Tal out of his sleep. He sat up drearily and followed my now wide-awake gaze at the human male who was sat right next to me.  
"Hi." The human male started, seeming totally calm. "I'm sorry, did I wake you?"  
I stared at him in shock. He sat back in the seat which seemed far too large for him, legs crossed and bearing a confident smile. He wore a black, formal suit, as if he was involved in something important.  
From what I could see, he was a relatively young human, perhaps mid-twenties to early-thirties. His eyes and short well-groomed hair matched a deep hazel-brown, and he held a strangely pleasant scent which seemed to radiate from his body. I believe it was called perfume or something similar.  
"Um, hello?" He waved his hand before us and brought me out of my trance.  
"Yes, you did wake us." I muttered "Did you want to talk?"  
"I did want to talk, yes." He held out his hand, offering to shake. "My name is Terry. Terry O'Donnell."  
We took turns to shake the strangely-accented man's hand, a formal human gesture which happened when two people met. Tal tried to repeat what I had done, but Hork-Bajir were not very good with shaking hands. The shaking was very much exaggerated.  
"My name is Toby Hamee. This is my friend, Tal Ganat."  
"It's nice to meet you both." Terry continued. "You know, I've never seen Hork-Bajir outside of Yellowstone before. Haven't met any up close neither."  
"We prefer to stay inside the park," I explained, "We are here because we are meant to be meeting one of the staff who is currently busy."  
He shot me a sideways stare, raising his eyebrows. "Haven't I seen you on TV before?"  
"TV?" I cocked my head.  
"Wait! I know now. You're in the House of Representatives, aren't you?" He said.  
"Yes, I am."  
"Wow. That must be very interesting."  
I nodded, but in reality I had always found it very frustrating.  
I finally gave into my curiosity. "Terry, are you trying to sell me something?"  
He was stumped by my question. Tal, meanwhile, found himself lost from the conversation and stared blankly around the room.  
"My dog is here," He stammered. "Broken leg. Poor thing."  
"I am sorry to hear it." I decided to play along with what I assumed was a lie. "But I do not think you have answered my question." I politely told him.  
He sighed and gave a defeated shake of his head. "Alright. You got me." He held up his hands. "I'm also here for business matters."  
"Business matters?"  
"I own a restaurant nearby. I'm advertising."  
"So you have come to an animal rehabilitation clinic?"  
"Everyone has to start somewhere." He said defensively.  
"That is true." I reassured.  
"Yes." His eyes glanced over us and rubbed his chin. "Say, Toby, how would you and Tal like to dine at my restaurant tonight?"  
"Terry, you should know Hork-Bajir do not eat at restaurants. Firstly, we only eat bark, and I highly doubt that you specialise in this. Secondly, Hork-Bajir do not, and will not, use currency of any type, so how would you expect us to pay you?"  
"My treat to you." He replied, with regained confidence.  
I raised an eyebrow. "That is very generous, and I thank you for the offer, but I am afraid I will have to refuse."  
He grinned. "I assure you that I have no bad intentions. I just need an outside opinion on my new restaurant. A visit from a Rep is just what I need."  
I turned away to think. What was there to worry about? The place would probably be filled with humans, so there was no chance of kidnap without a handful of witnesses. They would not hold weapons in a restaurant, so we were not really in any physical danger.  
And the Yeerks were defeated more than two years ago. There was none left on Earth, apart from those locked away.

Then again, it could all be one big lie.  
Perhaps he was just being nice. If he was, it would be better for us to accept. If it turned out the place was not suitable, we could just leave before we got too close. I could leave Tal back in the park if I felt too uncomfortable.  
"Alright Terry. If Tal and I have got available time, we will come." I looked over my shoulder to Tal who had started listening again. He nodded.  
"Thank you, Ms. Hamee. I'm sure you won't regret it." He took up a large black briefcase from beside his seat and placed it in his lap. He pulled it open and digged through files of paper, before handing me a small piece of paper. "Well, I'd best be off. It was lovely to meet you both."  
We shook hands again and he left, leaving us with only the scent of strong perfume and the small piece of paper.  
The title stood out bright and bold: TERRY'S. Below were details of location and opening times.  
I read over the paper several times. I was feeling very suspicious, but as I read through it became ever more apparent that this really was just a little restaurant in a nearby street. No doubt he wanted me to approve of his restaurant for advertisement purpose, although why the human population would take resaurant advice from a Hork-Bajir was beyond me.  
"Toby?" Tal, finally speaking up.  
"Yes Tal?"  
He did not answer, but once again, I felt his weight leaning against my shoulder. He had fallen back to sleep.  
I should have stayed awake myself. It would not have been long before Cassie arrived, but as the seconds ticked by, I found it increasingly harder to keep my eyes focused.  
I leant against Tal who he was already snoring.  
I really should have stayed awake.


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

White.  
White.  
White.  
Nothing but white and a dead silence. My own breathing filled my ears, but nothing else.  
It was just me, alone in a sea of blankness.  
I sniffed at the air, smelling only myself.  
I turned on ground that was not solid. All was white.  
Empty white. Blind white.  
"Hello?"  
Not even an echo.  
I jerked! A sound? Perhaps it was someone else.  
No, it was just my chattering teeth .  
My body tensed up, legs twitching and ready to run. My eyes darted around the blankness for any signs of possible danger and my tail stiffened, lowered between my legs.  
I called again, and once again I received no answer.

A cold shiver shot up my spine - I was being watched.  
I twisted my neck and looked back over my shoulder. I saw no one.  
However fast I turned, whichever way my head was facing, it was always behind.  
Panic!  
I ran. I did not care where to.  
The 'being' behind me was still there, watching.  
After a while my pace began to slow. My tongue lolled from my mouth as I panted.  
Soon my legs collided and tangled. I slammed into the dead white ground and quickly tried to lift myself, but I was weak. My arms simply collapsed.  
Vision faded to a dreary blur. Even then, I noticed that area was changing.  
The ground I was on…  
It was liquid.  
I could barely notice the blue-green, but I could smell the fumes.  
Blood.  
I was lying helpless in a puddle of blood.  
It was not my blood. It was already there...  
I gasped a desperate breath as I tried to haul my body up. My legs would not get a grip and I could not move. There was a presence above and behind me, it seemed, though I did not have the strength to look over at it. Nevertheless, I could feel its heat and the breath it lay on my spine.  
I sat helpless, waiting for whatever was to come.  
There was a sudden pressure on my left wrist. The presence was stepping on my arm, pinning it to the blood-soaked white ground.  
"What are you?" I moaned. "What do you want?"  
It did not reply.  
I felt it grab one of the blades on my arm. Desperately, I tried to shake it off. My efforts, however, were futile.  
The creature started pulling on the blade. The flesh tore. The blood spat. My ears focused on my cracked breathing and the squelching as the blade was twisted.  
I cried in pain as my arm burned with agony. My tail flailed aimlessly in the air. It hit nothing.  
The blade, after several sharp pulls, tore from my arm, taking a large fleshy chunk with it. My insides screamed, but all I could do was whimper softly to myself as I watched the arteries squirm and pour.

I screamed in distress as I felt my own blade sink into my back. This blade held there for a while, before it was dragged down across my spine, leaving a deep, bloody gash which cut directly through my backbone, disabling my lower body.  
I ran out of breath and my head dropped. I wished to lose consciousness, but the blade slowly dragging through my flesh kept me wide awake, and I could do nothing but whine and yelp hopelessly.  
This creature was drawing something onto me. It was writing on me!  
The blade over every inch of my body, new blood adding to the ever-growing puddle that I lay in. The wounds slowly began to scar over, though not lessening the pain which radiated from whichever nerves were left.  
The bright lights, the swirl of the liquid blood, the deadly white silence. It all began to fade.  
Before I could fall away from consciousness, the blade moved from my skin. I heard a faint clatter as it hit the ground nearby.  
My eyes were gradually becoming more focused and I saw the reflection in the blood. I was scarred from tip to tail. But those scars were words. Large, loud words.  
I DID IT!  
With what breath I could muster I cried out and yelled till my throat clogged with blood.  
Every inch of my body was screaming "I did it"!  
I DID IT!  
Those words. Printed over me like graffiti.  
I DID IT! I DID IT!  
I cried, "What is this?"  
The presence came around again and I could finally face it, but my eyes were still not clear enough to make out the figure.  
The voice filled my head. It was familiar, but shattered. Broken. "This, Toby, is your nightmare."  
"Please…" I whimpered "Let me go… Let me go!"  
"I am afraid I cannot do that, Toby."  
I screamed as the pain shot to my hearts. I rolled onto my back, crushing my useless arm.  
"You want to run. I know." The voice said.  
I could not talk. I could hardly breathe anymore.  
"I have one question…" It spoke.  
My eyes found their focus. I looked up clearly at the figure and it looked back.  
"How can we run from ourselves?"

"Toby! Wake up Toby!"  
I opened my eyes with a desperate gasp and stared at Cassie, whose face loomed over mine.  
"Oh thank God! You're awake!" She looked tense.  
I twisted my neck and confirmed my location. I was still in the waiting room, surrounded by a number of curious faces.  
It was a bad dream.  
"Cassie?" I managed to whisper.  
"Yes, it's me, Toby." She turned to the crowd of humans that had gathered around us. "Could you please go back to your seats?"  
The crowd reluctantly dispersed, leaving me with Cassie, Tal, and another Hork-Bajir who must have arrived while I was asleep.  
"Are you alright Toby?" Cassie asked.  
My throat was burning, my head was throbbing, my entire body was shivering, and I felt like I was going to throw up. Nevertheless I replied in a rather more casual tone. "Yes, Cassie."  
She placed her hand at the base of the first blade on my head and held it there. "Your temperature seems fine, but you look terrible. Are you sick?"  
I was panting. The horrible visions remained in my head, and I saw it still so clearly.  
"Toby?"  
"Yes?"  
"Are you listening to me?"  
The visions were burned into me. I felt dizzy, like I could suddenly lose consciousness, but I managed to keep upright with Tal trying his best to hold me steady, his hands resting firmly on my shoulders.  
"Toby?" Cassie yelled.  
"What Cassie?" I replied gloomily.  
"Tal, help me take her upstairs, she can't stay here."  
"Yes, Cassie." Tal replied. "Toby is sick?"  
"I don't know Tal, but something is definitely very wrong with her."  
And with that, they took me by my numb arms and hauled me out of the waiting room, dragging me past all the curious human eyes and leaving the other Hork-Bajir to sit and wonder what exactly had just happened. Once we were out and into the empty hallway, Tal lifted me carefully into his arms and continued to lug me around.  
I must have fallen from consciousness briefly, because the next thing I remember was being shuffled into a large, bright office. I weakly lifted my head to look around, just as Tal hoisted me from his chest and gently laid me down on the floor.  
My senses were quickly returning to normal. I sat up and balanced myself with my tail, which was still quaking.  
"Toby?" Cassie knelt down beside me. "How are you feeling?"  
I paused like I needed to check. "I feel better, thank you."  
"Do you think you'll be alright to sit there for a while?"  
"I think so." I responded with little confidence.  
"OK," She turned to Tal. "Tal, don't leave her side. If anything happens while I'm gone, just shout for me and I'll come right back."  
He nodded. "Tal not leave Toby."  
"Good." She reached out to a small desk and opened a drawer, taking out a yellow object shaped like a little human. She handed it to me. "It's a stress toy." She said. "If you feel something is wrong, just squeeze it. It might help you calm down."  
So I squeezed.  
I guess I must have squeezed a bit too hard. The little man's head exploded, and I was splashed with a gooey green liquid. My lower jaw started quivering.  
Cassie blinked. She took the shredded mess from me and threw it in a box in the corner of the room. "Maybe that wasn't such a good idea…" She muttered to herself.  
She twisted and looked around the room, eventually setting her eyes on a large TV. She ran over and fiddled with the controls on the side, then wheeled it in front of us. The screen began to glow.  
"Here, watch some TV. Maybe that will calm you down." She angled the television in front of us and walked out of the room, her eyes staying on me till she was out of the door.  
The TV began showing us a picture. I focused my attention on it and tried to dispel the memories and the fear.  
The colours. The people. The sounds. The TV was inviting to me.  
It even took my mind off of the horrifying images for brief periods, but they were always there at the back of my mind. I felt myself shudder as I saw myself dying, screaming, my body bloodied with those words.  
I DID IT!  
The words wrapped around me and forced out every last breath. Tortured me. Hurt me.  
Changed me.  
And I saw myself. I was no longer who I thought I was.  
I saw anger. A murderer…  
Warmth. It formed a hook around my shaking waist. It held me down and pulled me close. The images faded and I stopped shivering.  
Tal knew I was scared. He was trying to comfort me with his touch.  
"Toby not be scared. Tal is here." He gently spoke to my ear.  
I smiled and took his hand. "Thank you, Tal."  
"Toby feel better now?"  
"Yes, I feel much better."  
So we sat there watching the TV with a hypnotised stare, hand-in-hand. I quickly forgot the visions and the trauma. It was as if Tal was healing me inside. Like he knew exactly what I needed.  
The TV was showing us several people sitting and talking about a relationship that one of them was having with another. It was a confusing affair. Two of them - two human males named Joey and Chandler - were in a relationship with the same female. It was a tense and exciting situation that I never believed possible. Then again, humans were strange creatures and I had since learned not to underestimate (and often overestimate) them.  
I heard footsteps stomping out in the corridor. Cassie pushed through the door holding several folders and a large purple cushion. She saw us and almost dropped it all to the ground.  
"Toby?"  
I shushed her. "Joey has put Chandler in a big box."  
My eyes stayed glued to the screen as Cassie walked beside me. She placed the folders on her desk and handed me the soft, fluffy cushion.  
"I thought you were having a panic attack. You're looking a lot better now though. I should use the TV more often!"  
"It was only a bad dream." I shocked even myself with the misplaced casual tone.  
Cassie gazed at me, surprised. She turned to Tal, now devoid of fear, replaced by concern and confusion. "Tal, could you go and get us some water, please?"  
He nodded and got up to leave the room, looking up and down the empty hallway before strolling away.  
"Why did you send him to get water?" I asked.  
"Toby I want to talk…"  
She used a small rectangular object from her desk and turned off the TV. Then she took a chair from behind the desk and moved it beside me, sitting down in it and folding her legs.  
"What is wrong, Cassie?"  
"Toby…" She paused and looked at her feet like she could not find the words to say. "What was _that_?"  
"It was a dream." I responded with complacency.  
"What just happened was not normal. Dreams should not affect you like that." Her expression was growing serious.  
I looked away, embarrassed. She was right, and I realised I was simply trying to shrug it off as a normal nightmare. Why? Was I just avoiding the memory?  
"I have never heard of a Hork-Bajir screaming in their sleep before." She continued.  
"I was screaming in my sleep?"  
"Yes, you were. Loudly."  
I was shocked, though it definitely explained my sore throat.  
"And you were kicking a lot, like… like you were being attacked…" She held out her hand to mine and I took it. "Toby, what exactly happened in this dream?"  
I looked to the ground and clutched the cushion to my belly. I was beginning to shudder again. "I am sorry, but I do not want to tell you, Cassie."  
"I understand." She moved closer and comforted me with a smile. "I just want you to know that I'm here for you. If you have a problem, I will do everything I can for you. Not just because it's my job to care for you, but because you're a friend, and I don't want to see you like that."  
"I know, Cassie, but I really do not wish to revisit what I saw. I do not believe I have ever seen such… images."  
"I'm sure by tonight you'll have completely forgotten about it." She rubbed my neck with her hand. "And I'm sure Tal will help. You two seem pretty close"  
"We only met this morning." I stammered defensively.  
She grinned. "Well, you know what? I think he _likes_ you."  
I snorted, holding in my laughter. "He is a Hork-Bajir. It is in our nature to get along with each other. The Arn made sure to-"  
"No. I mean, _like_."  
I sidled my head. "I do not understand."  
She exhaled impatiently. "Never mind. I'm sure you'll find out soon enough." She pulled herself out of her chair and shuffled over to the desk, sorting through some files. "So was Tal already here before you?" She asked, bringing up a new conversation.  
"He came with me. I told him I was coming here, so he followed." I answered.  
"Was he called in for anything? I remember he came in last week for the usual check-up." She sat cross-legged on the edge of her desk. "As far as I'm concerned, he isn't booked in for at least another month."  
"He is not booked in. He just decided to follow me here."  
"And you let him?"  
"Yes." I grinned, "I thought it would be nice to let him come. He seemed eager."  
"But Toby, we planned to go to town." She pointed out, annoyed.  
"I know, but I suspected Tal would change his mind when we told him that. I will take him home."  
"And if he _wants_ to come?"  
I blinked and averted my gaze. "I guess I did not think he would want to. If he does, then I see no harm in him coming along with us."  
"We can't take him into town, Toby, it's going to be packed out today. If he gets lost we won't find him, unless we're incredibly lucky or somebody decides he looks out-of-place and brings him back here."  
"I have already told him to stay with me. I promise you, he would not get lost."  
"Accidents happen." She countered.  
I stood up, towering over her. There was a significant size difference, so I had to crane my neck. "If he wants to come, then I will make him my responsibility. It would be my decision, after all."  
She smiled."If you think he will be safe, then sure, he can come, but it's not just him I'm worried about…"  
"Do not worry about me, Cassie."  
"We don't have to go. We're probably late anyway, and I think you could do with a good sleep."  
"No Cassie, I told you last night that I would come, and I am here now."  
"I don't want to force you into anything…"  
I laughed. "But I want to go."  
"Fair enough," She gathered a couple of folders and held them under her arm. "But if I sense anything wrong with you, I'm taking you and Tal straight home. I don't want anyone getting hurt." She walked over to the door and held it open for me. "Come on. I've got to give my Dad these folders."  
We met Tal staring blankly at the nearest water dispenser, just as we thought he would be. He had obviously been standing there for a while with absolutely no idea of what to do. We told him that we had to go and gave him a quick lesson on how to pour out a drink. I still do not think he understood.  
Cassie took us down to the 'Housing centre' where all the animals were kept. We moved through many narrow corridors and down several flights of stairs, passing busy staff along the way.  
"Where we go now?" Tal asked, bored.  
Cassie replied, "We're going to see my father to give him some stuff. Then if you want you can come with us into town."  
He cocked his head. "Town?"  
"Where lots of humans go." Cassie continued, perhaps trying to put him off.  
"Toby go?" He questioned.  
Cassie directed an I-told-you-so grin at me. At least that is what I thought it was. Even after spending a lot of the past two years with her, I could never be sure.  
"Yes Tal," Cassie said. "She's going."  
He gave a giddy smile. "Then Tal go."  
I looked to him over my shoulder. "Then you must promise to stay beside us. There will be many humans there."  
Tal nodded. "Always stay with Toby."  
It seemed to me that Tal was beginning to get excited at the prospect of spending the rest of the day with us. It suddenly dawned on me what Cassie meant when she said he '_liked_' me. I could not help but notice his tendency to stare either.  
We squeezed under a door, careful not to scrape our blades on the frame, and walked into the Housing centre, with Cassie leading the way.  
It was a very large room, filled with cages and stables and glass vivariums. Inside them were a wide variety of animals, all watching us and pacing in their encloses as we walked past. A hundred eyes (including Tal's) gazing at me like some sort of spectacle.  
"Where is your father, Cassie?" I asked.  
"He's at the large enclosure." She answered. "He's about to go into surgery."  
My eyes widened. "What is wrong with him?"  
"No, it's not him." She rolled her eyes. "He's helping perform surgery on an animal that has just come in."  
"I am sorry. I thought you meant your father was going to receive the surgery."  
"Surgery for what?"  
That was a new, deeper voice that came from an open doorway. A head appeared around the corner, grinning a toothy grin. It was Cassie's father.  
He had a strange piece of blue material on his head, and he wore long white gloves and a large blue 'sheet' which covered most of his body. I expect this was what they wore during surgerys.  
"Nothing, Dad." Cassie groaned. She handed him the folders, just as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and kissed her forehead.  
"How's my little girl? Still playing with her friends? You should be working."  
Cassie casually pushed away. "Dad, you're embarrassing me." She said meekly.  
"Don't be silly, Cassie. I'm your father. I'm allowed to embarrass you." He showed a strangely dominating smile.  
He looked up at me. "Hello Toby!"  
Cassie's father, Walter, was very cheerful, and it was rather overwhelming after the recent events, so I just smiled broadly and said hello as casually as possible.  
"Who's your boyfriend?" Walter asked, referring to Tal.  
I nudged Tal, wanting him to introduce himself.  
"My name Tal Ganat." He said.  
They shook hands, once Tal remembered to do so.  
"I'm Walter. Cassie's father. Nice to meet you." Walter started. Then he came back to me. "By the way, Toby, Ket has an appointment tomorrow."  
"My mother?" I raised an eyebrow. My mother had come in for the regular check-up only a week or so ago. "Why? Has something happened?"  
"Oh, don't worry, it's nothing serious. She won't be walking too well for the next few days though."  
My eyes widened. "What is wrong with her legs?"  
"It's not the legs we're worried about."  
My eyes went wider still.  
"We think she cracked a bone in her toe."  
"Oh…" I said with a hidden sigh of relief.  
"Could you ask her to come in tomorrow?" Cassie asked.  
"Yes. I will tell her tonight."  
"Thanks, Toby." Walter said. "Anyway, I'd better go and make a start on the surgery. Crocodiles won't wait all day, you know."  
"Crocodile?" Tal jumped in.  
"Yes, a crocodile. Do you know what a crocodile is Tal?" Walter asked.  
"No. What is crocodile?" Tal was getting ever-more excited.  
"I'll show you." Walter turned to walk down the dark, narrow hallway he had appeared from. "Come with me."  
So we all followed him through the narrow passage, and eventually came into another bright room. It was a relief to come out of the hallway. Hork-Bajir eyes were not made for the dark. I could barely see a thing.  
This new room was empty and looked as if it was in the middle of construction. At one side was a simple, blank wall painted beige that spanned the whole room. It felt unfinished somehow, and staring up at the empty, blank space, something did not feel quite right. I dismissed the unfounded caution.  
At the other side stood a big glass box that may have been twenty feet wide by 10 feet tall. Inside was a lush, vibrant setting of little trees, rocks, and a small, rather attractive pond. I would have jumped in, were it not for the animal inside.  
It lay there by its pond, basking in the heat of a fluorescent lamp burning bright above. It was asleep, by the look of it.  
"Isn't she a beauty?" Walter commented, as we walked up the window of the enclosure.  
"Crocodile is big!" Tal gawked.  
She was indeed big. Very big.  
"Fourteen feet long." Walter informed.  
Tal did not understand human measurement, but he was amazed nonetheless. I quickly calculated the length myself. The crocodile, from tip-to-tail, was twice as long as me.  
Yes, she was big.  
"We picked her up from the local zoo." Cassie added. "Respiratory problems."  
A group of uniformed humans came by the enclosure and began mumbling amongst themselves, whilst another group appeared to be setting up a metal platform by a thick door at one side. They were going to load the crocodile onto the platform, presumably after the other group had restricted the hulking reptile.  
"What are you going to do?" I questioned Walter.  
"We've got to operate directly on the lungs, so we're going to have to cut her open. Then…" He glanced over at Tal. "… Operate."  
"Hurt crocodile?" Tal intervened.  
"No Tal." Walter reassured. "We are going to make her better."  
"Tal help?" There was no question about Tal's determination to learn more about the crocodile.  
Cassie answered him. "I think surgery would be a little too complicated for you, Tal. When she is better, you can come see her."  
"Anyway," Walter interrupted. "You had best get going now. We're about to move her." He glanced over at the group of people who appeared to have started without him.  
"Alright Dad." Cassie said.  
"Where are you going anyway?"  
"We're going to the parade in town." Cassie answered with upmost confidence.  
Walter raised a hairy human eyebrow. "With two Hork-Bajir?"  
"We'll be fine, Dad. We won't be in with the crowd. I'll find somewhere secluded."  
Walter chuckled. "You've grown up so fast, Cassie, I hardly recognise you anymore." This, I could tell, was more human humour.  
Cassie rolled her eyes. "I'm not a little kid anymore, Dad."  
This was a 'good-natured' conversation. Humans can say almost anything at all and still sound 'good-natured', I have found. In most cases anyway.  
"Ronnie would know." Walter teased. "You enjoy your day, sweetheart."  
"Thanks Dad."  
"Have a good time you two." He addressed me and Tal.  
With that, Walter jogged off towards the group of men, who at this point, were opening the enclosure doors. We wandered off back into the dark hallway.  
"You're father is in a good mood." I told Cassie, once we re-entered the Housing centre.  
"He loves his job. And ever since I told him that I was engaged, he's been over the moon." The she added quietly to herself, "Even though his first thought was that I was too young to get married."  
"_'Over the moon?'_"  
"It's an expression, Toby." She pointed across the room to a side-door. "We need to go that way."  
"What is through that door?" I asked.  
"The car park." She said. "We're taking my truck. You'll love it."


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

_'Someone once said life was for living, life was for happiness, life was love. I cannot help but feel that I have been lied to._

I had been to many places with Cassie, so many that it had become hard to remember them all. I had been to the zoo, the mall, the beach…  
But I had never been in her truck before.  
It was huge. I was over six feet tall and I had to look upwards at it.  
It reminded me of the cars parked all around us. Like them, it had wheels and windows, but the shape was different. The black paint seemed shinier as well, and there were no dirt splashes on the underside like the other cars had.  
"What do you think, Toby?" Cassie asked. "I bought it just the other day."  
"It is new?"  
"Yeah. Expensive, too. Very expensive." She said, straining the word 'very'. She strolled up to it and leaned against the flat, open back. "I'm not going to use it as a work car…often."  
"Why is it so expensive?" I asked, still perplexed about the human currency.  
"It's practical, _and_ it runs on biofuel. It has 5 seats, air-con, sattelite navigation, a built-in stereo, off-road settings, strong and durable frame, plenty of space, fold back seats, tinted windows, alloy wheels…" She blinked from me to Tal. "Sorry, you won't have the slightest idea what I'm talking about." She blushed noticeably.  
"Not really, but it sounds very nice." I complimented.  
"I've hardly driven it yet. I bought it two days ago and my mother drove it to my house. I drove it here this morning."  
She retrieved a key from a small pouch on her clothing and used it to open the door on the near side of the truck. She climbed in with some effort and sat on a soft leathery seat. "You and Tal will have to come in the other side." And then she added, "One of you has to sit on the back seats."  
"Will there enough room?" I walked by the door and peeped through to view the inside. It was spacious, but it would be a tight fit for two fully-grown Hork-Bajir.  
"If you lowered your heads there should be enough space."  
I turned and saw Tal who keeping his distance from the truck.  
After a short pause, Cassie spoke to him. "Is something wrong Tal?"  
"Tal not like car." He responded instantly.  
"Why not? It's not going to hurt you."  
He thought it over for a moment, remembering his earlier incident. "Not hurt Tal?"  
"No, it won't."  
He cautiously walked up to my side, keeping his eyes on the large truck. His eyes followed mine into the small interior of the truck. His little fear somehow gone with Cassie's words.  
"Too small for Tal and Toby." He commented.  
Cassie rolled her eyes and sat around in her chair. "You'll fit." She leant over to the other side and opened the opposite door. "Do you still want to come?"  
He stared blankly at his feet, unsure, but he soon made up his mind, "Tal go with Toby and Cassie."  
So I took him by the arm and led him to the other side of the truck. Cassie folded the second seat at the front of the truck forward, and Tal managed to squeeze through the little space and into the back seats.  
He was lucky, he had three seats. I had just one. There was little, if any room for my legs; my tail was being crushed by my backside on the leathery seat, and, apart from that, had no space at all - I had it huddled against my chest; my head was scraping the roof, and I had to keep it held forward, so that my blades would not damage the truck.  
That was excluding the unbearable heat.  
"Comfortable?" That was Cassie, sounding excited as she played with the controls in her new car.  
I shuffled awkwardly. It was enough of an answer.  
"Sorry…" Cassie said guiltily. "Maybe it _is_ a little too tight."  
I started panting in the intense heat coming through the magnifying windows. Tal was splayed out over the three back seats, he legs held inward, also feeling the heat.  
Cassie put her hand to her chin and seemed deep in thought, examining several controls in between the two seats. I heard her mumbling to herself, apparently 'not having a clue what to press'.  
I took the time to explore and spotted a Hork-Bajir Stuffed toy by the windscreen. I presumed it was from the Yellowstone Gift Shop. There was something hanging from the rear-view mirror, and it appeared very similar in shape to an Earth tree. I removed it from the mirror and discovered an overpowering stench coming from the material as I lifted it to my snout, so overpowering that I sneezed, dropping the fake tree to the floor of the car.  
Cassie picked it up, still focusing on the mass of buttons between us. "Toby, please don't play with anything."  
"Sorry." I said meekly.  
She began pressing several buttons, none of which seemed to please her.  
"I wish they would put less gadgets in these…" She complained.  
I faced Tal in the rear-view mirror. He was busy trying to make room for himself. At least he had some.  
I folded my legs and slumped forward in my seat, resisting the urge to stretch out. Meanwhile, Cassie had found a new batch of buttons on the other side of her seat.  
"Aha! I think I found it!" She said in relief.  
There was suddenly a lot more space around us. The glass windows around us began to descend into the metal door of the car, accompanied by a slight buzzing sound.  
Each window was now drawn open, including one on the roof of the truck.  
"Well…" Cassie shrugged. "At least I know how to open _every_ window."  
I leant my head out of the open window and felt the cool breeze against my jaw.  
Suddenly, a roar. The truck was vibrating, shaking. I retreated my head back inside and watched as Cassie prepared herself in her seat. She had started the trucks engine, and hundreds of little lights lit up around us.  
Noise! Something blaring in my ear! I jerked towards the middle of the truck in shock from the blaring sounds.  
"Relax," Cassie reassured. "It's just the radio." She turned a dial on a small console and the music quietened.  
"What is music?" Tal queried from the back.  
Cassie hesitated, searching for an appropriate answer. "It's, um… entertainment."  
"It was very loud," I commented.  
"Sorry. I think my mum's going through her classical music phase again, and she plays it a little too loud." She turned another dial. The music changed to a strange, horrible buzzing noise, before it tuned to the sound of a steady, rumbling beat.  
"This is also music?" I asked.  
"Yes, but this is Snoop Dogg. It's a different type of music."  
"It does sound different." I confirmed "But what is 'Snoop Dogg'?"  
"Snoop Dogg is the man that's singing." She sat up in her seat and put a hand on the wheel before her. "Could you move your tail? I need to use the gear stick."  
I shifted my stray tail and she pulled the bulbous stick to one side. The truck roared again and rolled from its parking space, Cassie using the wheel to direct the trucks movement.  
We bumped our way through the large car park and turned onto a narrow tarmac path. Our speed increased and I was thrust back into my seat as Cassie repeatedly changed gear. She drove faster as we made our way through dense countryside, and whilst speeding down a straight open road, I rather stupidly stuck my head out of the window for a better view. The wind slapped me like a rock, and I retreated my head, feeling quite nauseous. I did not like this ride at all.  
Thankfully, we began to slow down as we approached the city. I felt brave enough to poke my head out through the window again and take in the strange sights all around.  
I saw crowds of humans running around in a hurry, dragging along with them large plastic bags and briefcases. Some were wearing colourful, bright clothing and seemed to be enjoying themselves; others were smartly-dressed and formal, not quite so fulfilled. There was such a variety. It was amazing to just watch it all fly past.  
There were other cars, in front and behind us, going off in many directions, zooming past at high speeds and honking their hideous horns. I blinked up at the beautiful, cloudless blue sky and saw planes… so many planes floating high up above us.  
The human world was manic, to say the least.  
I pulled my head back in through the window to hear Cassie explaining various landmarks to Tal as we veered around another turn.  
"… And that is the Arts centre." Cassie told him.  
"Arts centre is big." Tal said. "But not as big as Museum."  
"You're right, it isn't." Cassie agreed.  
"Tal sees dog!" He chirped in amazement, and attempted to climb out of the window, before I pulled him back by his tail. Cassie, now familiar with some of the trucks buttons, rightly closed Tal's window before he could jump out in another burst of misplaced enthusiasm. He continued to stare out of the car with his snout pressed against the glass.  
The car kept on going for at least another ten minutes, according to the cars clock, and the overly repetitive scenery was getting boring. Cassie and Tal were involved in small conversation, passing the time by.  
I found myself playing with a small compartment in front of my seat, opening and closing it, finding what was inside. I found a pair of glasses. Humans wore them, but they were obviously not created for Hork-Bajir-use. I placed them neatly back into the compartment, just as one of the blades on my head pulled open a small flap above me. I opened up this new flap fully and found that it was another mirror. This one, however, stared right back at me. I looked into my own red eyes and my dilated black pupils connected with the up-close reflection and focused. It was not often I saw myself in a mirror, so I always made the best of the opportunity. I scratched off a small patch off dirt that had somehow gathered below my jaw when I noticed Tal blinking back into my reflection.  
His eyes met mine, and we just stared.  
"We're here" Cassie interrupted.  
I hesitantly took my gaze from Tal and looked around the new car park we had arrived in. This one was smaller than the one at the rehabilitation centre, and enclosed by several shorter buildings. There were no other cars here, and the tarmac was covered in litter and old metal trash cans.  
"Where are we?" I asked.  
"Well, we can't go directly to the parade. They don't allow cars to go through." She explained. "And I think it would be better to watch from a secluded area. It's much safer."  
"Where is parade?" Tal asked, popping his head through the seats between us.  
"Just on the other side of this building." She pointed through the window at the largest of the buildings containing us. "That's where we're going. McDonalds."  
"We are going inside that building?" I asked.  
"Nope. We're going on the roof. It's a nice view from up there." She opened the car door and hopped down to the ground, slamming the door shut behind her.  
I felt the warmth of Tal's claw rub up my squashed tail. He leant over my seat and grinned invitingly. "Tal watch parade with Toby."  
Before I could reply, the door to my right opened.  
"You coming, or are you going to sit in the truck all day?" Cassie asked.  
I clambered from the truck, helping Tal squeeze out from the back, and we stood in the middle of the small parking area. Out of the truck, I easily caught the scent venting from the 'McDonalds', though to be honest, it was not a scent I enjoyed. Tal was finding it just as repulsive as I was.  
"What does Tal smell?" He grumbled.  
"That's food," Cassie explained. "The smell of Big Macs and French Fries, to be exact."  
I held my snout as I focused on the flat roof of the building. "And we are going up there?"  
"Yep, but first I'm going to get a drink. Do you want any water?" Cassie offered.  
"Yes, thank you." I replied.  
"Will you both be alright to stay here by the car while I'm gone?"  
We both nodded, and Cassie walked off and out of the car park, leaving us there to sit on an awkward bench in a dirty, littered corner.  
There was barely enough room on the bench for both of us. Human seating was never intended to suit fully-grown Hork-Bajir - the shape was uncomfortable, and there was never enough room for the wide Hork-Bajir tail. This bench was maybe 3 feet in width and framed with splintered wood and rusty metal frames.  
We both hesitated, thinking about how to deal with the situation.  
"Toby sit." Tal offered.  
I smiled thankfully at him. "But there is enough room for both of us."  
Growing up on the Home world, my species were never under any local threat. We had no predators, and no prey. There was plenty of food, and little need for excessive shelter. Our people did not have to fight or argue for resources, so we grew to share, and it had become almost instinctual. Tal knew that there was enough room for both of us, yet he seemed determined to let me have the entire bench.  
I sat myself down on one side, giving my tail enough room behind me. I left him plenty of room.  
He shook his head. "Tal sit on ground."  
I smiled at his obvious desire to please me. "You can sit on this bench with me."  
Tal, looking rather privileged, hesitantly sat himself beside me.  
The seat was no more comfortable then that of the seat I had in the truck, but at least I had some headroom this time. I let my neck roll back against the wall and breathed in the strange air.

The area we had found ourselves in was not at all I looked, there were piles of broken rusted metal, old abandoned buildings, litter… Humans, despite a gross obssession of appearance and hygiene, were far from a clean species.  
A small plastic bag blew onto my foot. I kicked it off. "I do not like this place."  
"No trees." Tal observed.  
"Humans do not grow many trees in their cities," I said, thinking it would be a nice opportunity to educate him. "They usually keep the trees and cities separate. I do not believe they need the trees here."  
"But when Toby and Tal are hungry… No trees."  
"We will not be here long." I took note of the sounds behind the McDonalds building. The sound of humans and music. "The parade has already started."  
"What is parade?"  
"It is…" I stopped mid-sentence, realising that I myself did not know exactly what a parade was. "I don't not know what it is, but I believe it is a human ritual."  
"Why Cassie take Toby to see parade?"  
I raised an eyebrow, confused as to why he asked. "Cassie has taken me to see many human landmarks and rituals in the local area. I suppose she wanted me to see this aswell."  
"Where has Toby been?" He leant into the bench casually and folded his knees underneath.  
"Many places. I cannot even remember them all. Cassie and I have travelled together every week for the past two years."  
"What is Toby's favourite?"  
I paused to think. "… The beach… or the zoo… maybe the mall…"  
He wanted to seem like he understood me, and looked away, fiddling with the tip of his tail.  
"Maybe someday, I shall show you. I am sure Cassie would not mind."  
He smiled at me. "Tal go with Toby and Cassie?"  
"Yes. You cannot go on your own, you would get lost."  
"Tal know."  
"You must always stay with me when we are outside of the park." I repeated.  
He nodded acceptingly. "Tal stay with Toby outside of park. Not get lost."  
"Thank you, Tal." I gazed at him, into his beautiful red eyes.  
"Ah! Here you are."  
It was Cassie's voice. I broke from Tal's eyes and blinked up at her.  
She walked around the corner holding a small, brown paper bag with a distinctive yellow 'M' on the front. She strolled up beside the bench and sat on the frame beside my tail. "I could only get bottles. I hope that's alright." She said, pulling out two containers of water from her bag.  
I took the containers, handing one over to Tal. "Thank you."  
"I've been told that the parade has been on for about five minutes now." She informed us.  
I nodded. "I can hear lots of humans, but I did not know if it was from the parade." I paused. "… What is a parade?"  
"You'll see, once we're on the roof."  
I held back my head to look vertically upwards at the lip of the wall, where the flat roof began. "How will you get up there?"  
"Don't worry, I'll find a way. A single-story McDonalds wall isn't going to be difficult."  
Tal, struggling to open his bottle, decided to offer Cassie the easy route. "Tal carry Cassie up wall." He stood up tall in front of her, holding his disfigured bottle and trying his best to look heroic.  
Cassie laughed and strode up beside him. "Thanks Tal."  
She held out her hand, and Tal handed her the bottle, which she nimbly repaired and opened. After swigging a substantial amount, she gave it back to Tal, who thanked her and continued to stare blankly at it.  
Once he had figured it out himself, and had sprayed some water into his mouth, he came back to the conversation. "Small climb." He reached up his arm, showing that, with just a small hop, he could easily grab the ledge. "Cassie hold Tal's shoulders. Cassie not too heavy."  
Cassie smiled, like he had paid her a big compliment. "Alright then, but take it slowly."  
Tal turned his back to Cassie and faced the blank, grey wall, examining it over with slit black pupils, and he bent his legs, lowering himself closer to the ground. Cassie, being polite, hauled her arms around his shoulders and clamped her hands together around his chest, then doing the same with her feet around his waist. Once she signalled she was on tightly enough, Tal rose on his legs back to normal height.  
He twisted his neck back. "See? Cassie not heavy."  
Cassie returned him a grin and clung tighter round his neck. "Just be careful, I don't want to end up in casualty."  
"Tal careful." He reassured her, then proceeded to find pockets in the wall with which to climb.  
I could have easily leapt onto the roof in one bound, but I climbed alongside Tal, finding small crevices in the relatively flat wall and pulling myself up. It was an easy climb, and took me very little time at all till I reached up and hauled myself over the ledge. I stood straight on the top of the McDonalds and took in the rather unpleasant scenery.  
It was just a typically dull human roof: Grey gravel base, often cracked and covered in dirty puddles that had gathered over days of rain; various shapes and sizes of ground vents spewing the greasy smell of the produced food; and finally, to finish it off, a large, yellow 'M' facing outwards on the other side, large enough to sit under and be covered from the baking sun. It was quite a contrast to the bright, beautiful sky.  
Tal effortlessly lifted himself over the edge and stood beside me, allowing Cassie to drop down behind him. She looked around the roof with a broad smile and stood between us.  
"It's not the nicest place," She said, "But it's quiet and out of the way. I'm sure you wouldn't want to be in a busy crowd."  
"Yes," I agreed, "It is better. How did you know to come up here?"  
She gave me another human expression, this one telling me I already knew the answer. I did.  
"Oh, yes…" I smiled, embarrassed.  
Cassie had a strange power, given to her by an andalite. That power was to morph into any creature she touched. An amazing power that helped save this entire planet from the invasion of the yeerks. A power that could help six mere youths hold off an entire army.  
I may have been much taller and bulkier than Cassie, but theoretically she was far more powerful than me and Tal put together. She had so many forms she could morph to. For instance, she would have morphed to a bird to find suitable areas to watch a parade from. She could even morph me if she wanted, though she had agreed to not morph a Hork-Bajir or any other sentient creature. Her days of fighting were over, and she liked it that way.  
Cassie never enjoyed the war. She was always morally directed, always wanting to do the right thing, and I admired this. I suppose everybody did. Nowadays, she devoted her time to helping us with Ronnie, searching out new areas for us to live, funding the clinics and spending the majority of her time in the company of friends and family.  
The noise of the human crowds was more prominent from up here. I wandered over to the giant curved 'M' and looked down through one of the arches. Below, not twenty feet from the building, a long, bustling crowd of noisy humans stretched across the sidewalk and along the road. The crowds seemed to spread for miles down each side. Some people were cheering and laughing, others watched silently, and some waved small, colourful objects in the air above their heads. But this is not what caught my attention.  
In the middle of the crowds, on the black tarmac road, a large group of organised, uniformed humans marched in a strangely comical fashion, blaring brass instruments and hitting big rumbling drums. They marched away to the left, creating a loud musical drone that was completely different to that of 'Snoop Dogg's' sound, though no less enjoyable.  
Before and behind this group of uniformed musicians were large, misshapen vehicles, moving at a slow speed between the crowds. They carried huge figures on top, resembling fake humans and objects, along with one or two people waving from atop the base of the vehicle.  
This line of displays and uniformed patrols continued as far as my weak Hork-Bajir eyes could see. "This is the parade?" I asked.  
Cassie leant up beside the large 'M'. "Yes, this is it. What do you think?"  
"I believe I will enjoy this." I concluded, keeping my eyes on the passing vehicles, which led into another patrol of uniformed humans.  
Tal crawled into the next arch along. "Loud."  
"It probably will be." Cassie surmised. "There's a lot of music in parades."  
Cassie was perhaps not as excited about the parade as me and Tal were, but she had probably seen them many times before. She moved to sit on a vent a few feet away.  
I could not help but feel Cassie was still unsure about things, whether she really was as happy and care-free as she made out to be.

Maybe she just wanted to sit and watch the parade from there. I could never be sure. Sometimes I even felt unsure of my own happiness.

I closed my eyes and tried to lose myself in the noise of the parade. The sounds breezed over me like leaves and calmed me. My mind began to ease as I once again opened my eyes to watch the colours flow by.  
Sometimes it is better to feel there is nothing on your mind and let yourself go. I knew that I was only worrying myself.  
As I watched the next patrol walk by, I remembered what my mother had said to me: 'Toby worry too much'. She was right, as she usually is. She had cared for since I was little, comforted me, fed me, warmed me, cooed me to sleep on stormy nights. When I grew up she became a reliable source of motherly wisdom. She always knew when something was not quite right, when I was scared, and she would always know how to make me feel better again. She knew me completely.  
I remembered her, and I remembered how to be happy.  
It was not long before I realised that I had been lying under the shadow of the 'M' for quite some time. The colour of the sky had changed to a darker shade of blue, and the air had gotten cooler. My mind had been elsewhere.  
I focused on the parade. The next float along was large and pink, made from little flowers. The women beside strolled along, waving to the appreciative crowd, bathing in the applause and the cheering, enjoying every little moment that passed by. It must have taken a long time to build that float and now they were reaping their rewards.  
One of the woman looked up, right at me, and she stopped smiling and waving. Her face grew serious and intelligent, though her legs still motored slowly on. She kept direct eye contact, while her lips slowly made out words in an almost whisper.  
"Tonight."  
I could read those words as they left her mouth, and it echoed loudly within my head. How? I could not read human lips…  
The human female stopped suddenly and shook her head. She looked around like she did not know where she was. She seemed to recover her thoughts and walked on like nothing had happened, now reluctantly waving to the oblivious crowd.  
I tried to make sense of what was going on. The female kept on moving, making way for a rather disorganised group of humans tumbling and falling around behind the floats.  
"Are you alright Toby?" Cassie called over from her seat.

Was I? I looked back over my body which I had splayed clumsily over the roof. I ran the memory of the human female through my head and discarded it as a delusion. Today had not been a good day.  
"I believe so."  
"You've been lying there for about fifteen minutes looking spaced-out."  
Spaced-out? "What do you mean, Cassie?"  
"Never mind. I'm just a little concerned about you at the moment."  
I could have told her there was nothing to worry about, but I figured she had a right to be worried, and a reason. I was visibly edgy, and there was undoubtedly something going on in my head.  
I turned my head and looked down at the strange disorganised humans. Some were falling over, others were throwing pies at each other. Either way, these were obviously not humans I had ever encountered before, at least not in the park.  
"Who are those humans?" I asked Cassie, pointing to the clumsy collaboration.  
"They're called clowns, they entertain kids."  
Tal pointed down to the strange gaggle of humans with an eager claw. "Tal like that one."  
I stared to where he pointed, at a rather energetic clown in bright red clothing. He was looking around like he had lost someone, though he did not seem at all upset. He continued to waddle his way along with the others before being struck in the face by a gooey, edible substance, thrown by a rather disgruntled-looking clown.  
"That's Chortling Charlie." Cassie told him. "Don't ask me how I know. We get a lot of kids in the clinic."  
"Why are they throwing food at each other?" I asked.  
"I would tell you if I knew. I spose it's just something clowns do."  
I shrugged - a typical human gesture I had picked up over the years. I was sure there would be a reason for such violent and wasteful throwing of food, but not even Cassie, a human, knew why. One thing was for certain though, the younger members of the crowd below us were enjoying it.

The sun had moved slowly across the sky as the parade began to die down, dragging distant shadows across the concrete surface and retreating behind large onrushing clouds. I lay, relaxed and warmed in the late afternoon heat and watched over the parade as decorated vehicles wheeled their way through the diminished crowd and the last of the music was fading to the distance. I let my troubles float away and stretched out on my belly under the giant 'M', taking in the rays and the human atmosphere.  
Cassie and Tal were several feet away, talking quietly to themselves. I could not hear them clearly.  
I took a long gulp from my bottle, after managing to spill most of it earlier. The water was strange, obviously tainted but it was still drinkable, and during a hot day like today I was more than happy to have it. The cool, filtered liquid trickled pleasantly down my throat.  
I finished off the bottle and placed it down at my side, taking in a deep relaxing breath as I let my head rest on the small smooth wall over the edge of the building. My eyes trailed off to watch several small birds hopping along the edge and over the patchy roof, they chirped quietly amongst themselves and jumped slowly closer with curiosity, only to fly away again to find something else to do.  
Cassie laughed quietly to herself, and I looked over to see Tal having a hard time understanding why she had found something so amusing. His large eyes took a slight glance at me, before instantly ricocheting off and facing another direction . I cocked my head curiously at Cassie, who's laughing had subsided, and she cheerfully shook her head like it was nothing to worry about.  
I reverted from the strangely awkward situation and stared aimlessly outwards over the busy road.  
The talking behind me started again, and I felt myself being drawn in and trying to listen, but even with a strong sense of hearing, I could not depict what they were saying.  
Then it stopped, and I heard nervous shuffles behind me, and before I knew it, Tal was crawling up beside me under the large 'M'. He was shaking ever-so-slightly and he seemed unable to look me in the eyes, as mine bore down on him.  
He opened up his snout to speak, and I could tell straight off what was happening as a smile came over me, and I watched him struggle with his words  
He soon found the courage to say something, "Cassie say 'Tal -"  
"No Tal." Cassie burst in. "Come back here." She started laughing again, but this was, as I understood it, more of a sympathetic laugh, as Tal obeyed and crawled away, looking thoroughly embarrassed.  
I laughed to myself and turned my head over my shoulder to smile knowingly at Cassie. She knew I had figured her out and shot me back a wink.  
I guess she had known what Tal saw in me, and was kindly trying to give him the courage.  
I shook my head in amused disbelief and turned back to my rooftop view, my moving arm connecting with the empty bottle that had been placed beside me, sending it tumbling over the side and into bushes below.  
It disappeared under a large yellow-leaved bush, and I lifted my body up as I looked over the ledge, raising my back legs and resting my upper body on my arms, my neck moving over the ledge. I looked vertically until I could see under the bush…  
SLAP!  
I yelped in surprise as something hit me from behind. I reversed and turned to see what had happened.  
"Tal?"  
Cassie, behind him, was in hysterics, unable to hold in the laughter as I rubbed my painful backside where Tal had slapped me.  
"I'm sorry!" Cassie said over her fit of laughter. "I couldn't help myself."  
A guilty expression showed on Tal, and his eyes stared at me apologetically.  
"Tal," Cassie continued. "I didn't mean for you to do it so hard."  
From my observations, Cassie had told him to slap my backside as I was looking over the edge. I had seen humans doing this before as a positive or humourous social action (and it was definately one of the stranger ones), but I was not so sure that it was working the same way for me. Of course, Cassie was just playing around.  
I bared my teeth in a forced grin and sat painfully on the ledge as Cassie apologised and reassured Tal it was all for fun, and then walked over and sat against the ledge beside me.

"Before you ask, yes, it was all my idea."

"It is not something we Hork-Bajir tend to do." I replied with little emotion.

"I was just messing around. I didn't actually think he would do it, though."

Looking over at Tal, he had returned to his seat on a large metal vent and was playing with his tail.  
"Are you enjoying yourself?" Cassie continued.  
"I am. The parade was pleasant to was. What was it for, exactly?"  
"It's usually a celebratory thing. I don't know what this one was for though, it just appeared." She looked over the ledge at the dispersing crowds, the parade now far from view.  
"Thank you for bringing us here, Cassie." I said.  
She smiled and looked down at her legs. "You're welcome. I thought it would be nice to bring you along. Somebody to talk to."  
I raised an eyebrow. Was something wrong?  
I gazed down at her hand laid resting on her leg, and found the glistening sparkle of a ring on a clutching finger. She had seen Ronnie last night. Today he would be off working elsewhere.  
It must have been something else…  
Someone else.  
"Cassie…" I started, sounding as gentle as I could.  
Her eyes fell on me, and I saw all the proof I needed.  
"You still miss her." I said.  
She reluctantly stared at me and nodded. "Yeah."  
Rachel was Cassie's best friend before and during Earth's war against the yeerks, and died towards the end. I was never informed how or why it happened, but it seemed to have a lasting effect on Cassie and the others.  
It was sad, but unfortunately that was the reality of war. No decision is right for everyone. We had both learnt that the hard way.  
I did not really know what to say. I shuffled closer to her as I saw a single tear stain her shirt. I held out a claw for her and she took it, holding it tight.  
"Things are so different without her…" She managed to utter.  
"I understand why you are upset," I said. "We all miss her, but you have to remember all the good things she had done for us. Without her, we may have lost the war. She played an integral part."  
Judging from Cassie's expression, she seemed to be cheering up, remembering Rachel for all the good reasons. She smiled warmly.  
"You're right." She conceded.  
"You still have us." I continued. "Your mother, your father, Ronnie, and I am always here for you. We all are."  
"Thank you Toby." She followed my gaze and lifted her hand to show off the ring. "Noticed the ring, huh?"  
"Yes." I said. "It is beautiful."  
She blushed and looked at her finger lovingly, before giving me a strange look. "Maybe you'll be next." I saw a suggestive grin spread over her face, and she glanced over at Tal, who was grooming his toenails with his teeth.  
I chuckled at the remark and kept my eyes drawn on him.  
"He has a thing for you." Cassie interrupted.  
"A thing?" I asked, puzzled.  
"You know, a _thing_."  
I simply stared at her.  
"He… feels for you." She nodded like she was satisfied with how she worded it, and after some time I suddenly realised what she was implying.  
I did not answer her, because to be honest I had nothing much to say that would not give me away, because I too had this _thing_…  
We sat in a suitably peaceful silence gazing up at the dimming blue Earth sky. The last of the days birds were flying back to their nests, and the cold evening weather was starting to set in. The moon was now visible up above us. Full.  
The sound of the crowds were quickly dying as I lay my head on the ledge, Cassie behind me, and Tal somewhere nearby, busying himself.  
Cassie sat watching over the ledge, thinking. She was troubled, and I knew why.  
As I looked up at the clouded sky I only asked myself the same question she would have asked. I had no answers and neither did she.  
But she had the experience of knowing the others. She was insightful, and she could tell the emotions of those around her like it was a gift. She saw the fear in Jake's eyes, and as he left, she knew he may not come back.  
Nobody knew exactly what happened to the Andalite vessel and its crew, but I knew deep down inside that they would come across it.  
It was hard not to think about it. About what could happen to him. About what this could mean.  
I began to think about Tobias. How would he cope? He had not spoken to the other Animorphs for over two years now. He did not trust Jake at all since Rachel died, and only ever talked to me and my people. Even then, he never mentioned anything about the war. He would fly over to the camp and ask us how our day was, what we had done… he never answered those questions himself…  
We talked about it only a few days before he left with Jake. He flew to my nest late at night and waited for me there. He must have wanted company, so I sat with him for a few hours. He asked questions about my life, but when I asked him the same questions back to him, he was quick to change the subject.  
I asked him why he would not answer. He flew away.  
I yawned and opened my eyes, finishing off the nap I did not even know I was having, and saw Cassie resting beside me, her elbows on the ledge and her chin placed on her cupped hands. I stretched myself and scratched behind my neck, sitting up. Today had gone by pretty quickly, and, since it was winter, the night was coming in earlier, orange-shadowed clouds enveloping the empty blue.  
My pessimistic thoughts were drained as I stood high on my legs and shook myself down. Cassie noticed I was getting up and turned around, facing inwards to the building. "Ready to go Toby?" She asked.  
"Yes, I am ready." I replied, taking one last look at the remains of the crowd, then twisting to see…  
Where was Tal?  
I darted my eyes around the roof in a sudden bout of panic. Nothing but the horrible grey roof and the vents. No sign of him.  
A scream. A distant shout from below the 'M'. I shot to the edge to see a large gap in the shouting crowd. In the middle of the gap, Tal, walking away from our building.  
Cassie had also noticed what was happening. "What is he doing?"  
"I… He…" I struggled to find any reasonable answer. I had told him many times to stay beside us and he had disobeyed.  
Maybe his curiosity had gotten the better of him. Maybe he was hungry.  
The startled, noisy humans around him began to close in, eager to see the Hork-Bajir who seemed to appear from nowhere, no longer scared by his sudden appearance, and now more determined to meet him.  
But he did not stop to talk, nor did he seem intimidated or scared like Hork-Bajir usually are around large groups of humans. In fact, he showed no emotion whatsoever. He just walked through them, with a strange, almost robotic stride. Had he always walked like that? It was as if he was sleepwalking, but his body stayed almost still, upstraight. His tail was hanging and dragging behind him, pretty much limp.  
I had no choice but to catch him. I reached up and pressed my clawed foot against the ledge, powering the muscle and feeling the pressure swirl up through and into my thighs.  
I leapt from the ledge, through the 'M', falling heavily through the light Earth air. The wind brushed like leaves against my skin, and I saw the cracked ground beneath me swelter and waver as I hurtled downwards. I clutched at the breeze as I fell aimlessly.  
Fell.  
The concrete. The heat. The shadow. Blood.  
And for one brief moment, I saw myself.  
Screaming! Screaming! I closed my eyes, and I saw the bright light. I saw the madness. And I saw the disfigured shape. It surrounded me, whispered in my ear.  
Told me where I was.  
And I was flat on the ground. Heated tarmac.  
My breath ran over my chest as I heard the beat of footsteps.  
I had to get up!  
Moving my arms and legs, I struggled to get onto my feet again. I rubbed my head, disorientated by shock. My ears made out distant noises, fading closer. Talking. Shouting.  
Where was Cassie? I tried to focus my eyes back to the roof. She was gone, probably rushing after me.  
As my head cleared, I stared out over the concerned humans who had surrounded me. I was just tall enough to be able to peek over the sea of heads and spot three large male blades. Tal!  
My left leg jerked forward as I retained my stability. What was happening to me? Why was I having these visions?  
No time to answer. I needed to find Tal.  
The crowd backed off slightly as I lunged forward, clumsy lunges soon forming to a jog as I followed Tal's scent and the occasional view of blades over the shorter human heads.  
I bellowed out his name, loud enough for him to hear, unintentionally sending several humans into a panic. Those who got in my way were gently pushed aside, or at least as gently as I could.  
Tal was in danger, he did not know where he was or what kind of human he would encounter. He had no idea of what kind of machine could come speeding around the next corner. He was stupid to walk away, and yet he must have known it…  
The crowd kindly began to separate, not sure about how to react, but Tal was still separated from me by a small group who had no idea what was going on, and were all gathered around, like they were focused on something.  
I felt a worn, deep grunt leave my throat, panting and irregular. I almost collapsed, little energy left after my fall. Too little to think, to make sense… all shapes, colours… shades of blue-green… blotches.  
The group split, and there…  
Facing me, still, lifeless.  
Stood straight and tall.  
The nightmare. The blue and the green forming blank spheres of eyes. Deep. Dead.  
I collapsed forward, too scared to scream.  
A hit to the head.  
Cold and dizzy, I lost consciousness.


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER 6**

_'Someone once said life was for living, life was for happiness, life was love. I cannot help but feel that I have been lied to. How can life be for love when all you have left is hate? How can life be for happiness when all you can do is scream in silence? How can life be for living when you have nothing to live for anymore?_

My eyes slowly flickered, rhythmic to the steady rumbling airing from the tight leather seats. I stretched my body and felt my legs crumple against the hollow shell of the truck door, my clutched limbs aching and straining. My vision was faded and blurry, but as I slowly opened my eyes, squinting in the seemingly bright light, I made out Tal's outline above me. He stared down at me, and I realised a faint, pleasant sensation as he rubbed a claw down my arm.  
My head rested on his thigh, and we were both squeezed into the back of the truck, with Cassie sat, driving at the front.  
I could hear faint noises. The sound of talking. I moved my arm to rub my head, my hearing faded and distant. Tal was speaking. I could hear his voice now, and I felt the vibrations buzz through his body to me as he spoke.  
I raised my head from his thigh and looked through distorted vision, trying to make sense of it all. My body throbbed and I collapsed back onto Tal, clenching my teeth as the memory drifted through me.  
The parade. Tal's eyes…  
I looked upwards at his chin and, noticing my stirring, he craned his neck to look back. I burrowed into his eyes. Tal's own red eyes.  
Not blue, nor green. Not dead.  
Normal, bright eyes.  
"Toby wake up."  
I jerked a bit, my sense of hearing and sight coming back to me as I heard him utter those words. My legs twitched, life springing back into them as I felt energy returning and boiling up inside me.  
Warmth. Tal rubbed my cheek with the back of his hand, and whispered, too quiet to make out.  
Where was I? What was happening?  
I bolted up as the questions circled me and I sat upright in my seat, shivering as the sudden effects of my mind once again subsided. The aching of my body forced me to lean against the door, but at least now my senses had returned to normal and I could see the bright city lights fly past my window, covered in the dark purple veil of the night.  
The trucks vibrating grew quieter as I gazed through the glass window, and the lights slowed to a stop, just as the truck did.  
Cassie shuffled in her seat to face us, a total look of seriousness on her face. "Toby."  
My eyes widened as I focused on her, still dizzy and nauseous from earlier. "Yes?"  
She bit her lip and looked over my body, like she thought I was hiding something. "There is something wrong with you."  
Of course, she was right. "I believe so."  
She hesitated, cautious about what she would say next, and glanced over at Tal. "Would you like to tell me what's going on?"  
I took my eyes from her, feeling cornered and momentarily split from Cassie. I had no answer.  
"Please, Toby." She said, her expression showing much concern. "Is there something you want to talk about?"  
I shook my head, resting my gaze on her again. "… I do not know."  
She hummed thoughtfully to herself, before gently rubbing my knee. "I think we need to take you to the clinic."  
I nodded acceptingly. Maybe I was just ill. A trip to the clinic could only be for the best.  
Tal was keeping quiet and fiddled his claws quizzically on his side of the truck, legs crunched into the seat before him and his tail set aside. I could feel confusion and fear airing from him.  
Surely what I saw before was an illusion. A figment of my imagination brought on by some illness…  
Yes, it was just me. I was sick. That was why I was going to the clinic, and why I was hallucinating.  
I was just sick.  
Cassie turned back to the steering wheel and the car roared, heading out of the city and in the direction of Yellowstone park. I thought everything through my head - the images, illusions, and tried to put together the pieces. Something was happening to me, but I could not explain what it was, or _why_ it was happening.  
Was Tal feeling anything? He certainly seemed troubled…  
"Tal." I said quietly, nudging up beside him.  
He replied with a small, meek grunt.  
"I am not mad at you." I explained.  
He lifted slightly, yet unable to hide his sense of guilt. "Tal is sorry."  
After a brief pause of just staring at him, I decided it would be best to change to a lighter subject. "Have you enjoyed your day?"  
"Yes."  
He said no more, and he did not seem at all sure if he did like it or not. Something was on his mind. My hand reached over and wrapped around his. That caught his attention.  
"Do not feel bad about what happened, Tal." I said.  
He opened his mouth to speak, but hesitated, before saying it in our own language. " 'Cassie say Tal do bad. But Tal nap.' "  
That took me by surprise. " 'You were asleep?' "  
" 'Tal…' " He froze, like he was unsure. " 'Tal walk away, but Tal sleep…' " He held his head in obvious bafflement.  
This was getting stranger and stranger…  
He continued, " 'Tal sleep on roof. Not wake up on roof.' "  
" 'Where did you wake up?' "  
" 'Tal wake up on road next to Toby.' "  
I started to feel tense, squeezing his claw tighter. He replied by squeezing back and leaning against me.  
I wanted to feel better. I wanted to make _him_ feel better. To take things off my mind and just enjoy the rest of the night, to go to my nest when I was tired and not have to stay awake and demand answers from myself. To wake up in the morning happy and care-free.  
My eyes rested lazily on Tal, focusing on him as the scenery around us grew darker. He made me feel strange, distant in a way, like he was all I really needed on this strange planet. We were compatible.  
"Tal." I said quietly.  
He opened his eyes wider and trailed them to mine.  
I smiled invitingly. " 'When we get back home tonight, I would like to have some more of that bark you gave to me. Could you show me the tree?' "  
The light in the car had quickly gone black. It was impossible to make out his face, but I knew he was smiling.  
" 'Tal will take Toby to tree.' "  
" 'Thank you, Tal.' "  
As the night spread over the horizon to fill the sky, and the last of the city noises died away, we sat in deep silence - all three all us. Cassie said nothing for most of the journey, concentrating on the road and her thoughts. Both I and Tal were sat uncomfortably in the limited space of the truck, bound close and leaning back into the seats, worn out.  
Our claws clutched together, so familiar, yet so new. I had never felt this feeling before, and I never wanted it to stop, not even for even a brief second. I dropped my head on his shoulder and watched the world pass by through the windscreen. The clinic, lit with dull amber light, dragged itself up over the horizon like a beacon pushing its way up through the dirt.

It took two hours, and I was fine.  
Perfectly fine.  
Cassie had done all sorts of tests on me, and they all said that there was nothing physically wrong with me.  
Physically, at least.  
"I don't understand." Cassie muttered as we squeezed back into the car. "Are you sure you haven't hit your head on something recently?"  
"I am sure." I said, as I got into the front seat beside Cassie. Tal crawled into the back.  
She sighed impatiently. "Maybe you just need some sleep. I'll take you both back to your camps."  
"Thank you Cassie." I said with a smile, as she got the truck started and the music began playing. I jerked as it blared in my ears, nudging into Cassie. She turned it down and tuned it to something slightly less aggressive.  
Tal gave us a huge, gaping yawn as we left the clinic car park for the second time today. He may have been tired after a long day, but I was wide awake to the point where I was not going to sleep tonight.  
Cassie, again, stayed mostly quiet, but she would occasionally glance over at me with concern.  
The little flickering lights of the truck were all that kept me amused, since it was now impossible to see outside apart from the occasional orange streetlight flashing above and in the distance.  
"I hear there's a feast on tonight." Cassie said from out of nowhere.  
"Yes, there is." I replied. "Several camps gathered bark together this morning. They will come to our camp, I believe." I faced her. "Would you like to come?"  
"Sure, I guess. I can't stay long though." She kept her eyes firmly on the road, no expression shown. "I don't want you to feast tonight. You need to get some sleep."  
"I understand."  
I knew deep down that I would have wanted a feast, but Cassie was right, I needed a long rest.  
"I think I should talk to Ket aswell." She continued, quickly adding, "… About her broken toe."  
"I am sure she will join the feast." I said. I leant back over my seat. "Will you go Tal?"  
He turned his attention from the back of my seat to me. "Tal not know."  
Cassie shrugged, still focused on the road as we turned into a small residential area. The lights were bright here, so I could look out of the window clearly. The houses were much larger than those in the city, and bordered the park barely metres from the enclosures edge. The road followed a bend over a light hill, then began to level out as the buildings became denser and more tightly packed in.  
Then the line of buildings stopped, and we drove again past bare, fenced land. Above the hill, outlined by a faint orange streetlamp glow was a large single storey building, half submerged by the park and a host of small trees. In the light, a large, golden jumble of letters was barely visible, sitting in the centre of what appeared as the front of the building. I read it.  
Terry's.  
I supposed that I would be missing the opportunity to meet him again tonight. Cassie would take us home, and by then it would be too dark to make my own way there.  
Surely enough, he would not mind if we did not go tonight. I doubted he would be at all surprised.  
The truck began to pull itself up the shallow hill and towards the building which sat on the opposite side of the road, surrounded by the streetlamps and forwarded by a small sheltered bus stop. A shaving of crescent moon rose over the roof and battered it with a simple white glow.  
We passed the attractive restaurant and wheeled onto a more level patch of road, edged by pavement sidewalks.  
A shadow lurked on our side of the road on the cracked dim sidewalk. It became obvious that the human was male as the trucks headlights rested on his body. He wore clothing that looked inadequate to keep him warm, though fancy as if he were here on important business.  
However, the most noticeable feature was his dazzling array of facial hair. It was brown, as the hair on his head was, and it was styled into what I have heard is called a 'combo', trailing over his lips and going down his cheeks, before covering his entire lower jaw.  
He was tall for a human, and was roughly the same age as Cassie. He sported a healthy and fulfilled expression, wise and experienced despite his youth.  
Cassie seemed no less interested in the man as I was, and within seconds she seemed to have recognised him. "Erek?"  
The truck slowed and sidled up to the sidewalk where the man walked, and as we came to a stop beside him I began to see the face I had known before.  
My window slid down into the car door, and Erek swivelled around to see me looking down at him. He raised an eyebrow and stepped slowly to the door. He eyes lit up as Cassie leant forward to look past me.  
"Cassie?" Erek said.  
"Hi Erek!" She grinned and rested her arms, crossed on the steering wheel. "I didn't expect to see you here."  
He leaned against the truck door and spoke in a relaxed and casual tone, returning her smile. "I'm on vacation, staying in a hotel for a couple of weeks. I was planning to visit you in the clinic tomorrow."  
"Well I'd love for you to drop by." She replied. "I can't remember the last time we spoke."  
"Too long ago." He darted a strange expression to her and patted the truck window frame. "I see you got yourself a big vehicle. Never thought I'd see you driving one of these."  
"I needed the space." She quickly replied.  
"Is it new?"  
"I bought it this week. Only driven it properly today though."  
Erek gave it a thorough look-over and hummed, impressed. "Good driving?"  
"I love it. I've never driven so easy since I had that Chrysler."  
He winked at me, perhaps finally recognising me. "What do you think, Toby?"  
"I enjoy being driven around in this truck." I said to him. "You have grown facial hair. I think it suits you."  
"Thanks," He said. "At least I know now that _somebody_ likes it."  
"I think it makes you look very mature." Cassie complimented, though a contradictive grin showed through.  
"Well, the ladies like a mature man." Erek cooed, posing against the door in an attempt to impress Cassie. She was not at all moved.  
She shook her head in amusement. "So where are you going? Isn't it a bit late for a casual stroll?"  
"I'm going to that new restaurant just over the road. Terry's. I know the manager."  
"Terry O'Donnell?" I interrupted.  
"Yeah. You know him?"  
"I have met him." I said blankly.  
Cassie leant forward a little more to see past me at Erek. "I've heard of him. Doesn't he own a chain of restaurants in Europe?"  
"Yep."  
"And you know him? Personally?"  
"We're good friends. I met him a year back when he built his first restaurant in America. Nice guy. Very good food. He hires only the best chefs."  
Cassie tapped my arm. "So where did you meet Terry?"  
"This morning in the waiting room." I replied. "While I waited for you."  
Erek, finally taking notice of Tal sitting quietly in the back seats, seemed unsurprised. "I'm sure he's busy advertising. It's all he ever does."  
"Well, I may have to check it out sometime." Cassie said.  
"Why don't you come with me tonight?" Erek offered. "Would be nice to hear what you've been up to these last couple of years."  
Cassie bit her lip and looked briefly at the steering wheel. "I don't know…"  
"Come on, Cassie." Erek tempted. "I'm paying for the champagne..."  
"Alright then." Cassie replied instantly. I was briefly taken back, but as they both began to laugh, I recognised it to be yet another example of humour.  
She continued, "But I have to take Toby and Tal home first. They've had quite an eventful day."  
Erek raised an eyebrow. "Something bad happen?"  
"Don't worry about it." Cassie concluded dismissively.  
"Ah…"  
I looked over the road at the large brightly-lit building on the left. A slight silhouette of two men stood by the entrance, with fumes twirling from their cigarettes, and their voices echoing through the open window of the truck. Inside, I could barely make out the luxurious rows of newly laid tables. Candles dotted throughout like shattered glass. Something told me that I should accept Terry's invitation. I wanted to be there.

Maybe I needed to be there.  
Either way, I spoke up.  
"Cassie, would it be alright if I came with you and Erek? I would like to see Terry."  
Erek looked bemused. "You want to see Terry?"  
"Yes Erek. I believe he wants me here tonight."  
Silence. They stared to each other, then back to me.  
"You two must have really hit it off in the waiting room." Erek said. I did not understand what he meant. Though Cassie found something to smile about. "But being serious, he probably just wants to get to know the locals, though I would think advertising a five star luxury restaurant to Hork-Bajir is a slight step-back in terms of business."  
"He wouldn't advertise to the Hork-Bajir," Cassie pointed out, "He may be trying to attract more people." She swivelled to me. "Are you sure Toby? I think it would be best for you to just get home and sit down for a while. Get rid of whatever is wrong with you."  
"I am sure."  
She breathed deeply and nodded. Erek had no idea what we were talking about, but was acceptant that something had not gone to plan today.  
Tal's voice echoed up from the back. "Tal stay with Toby?"  
Erek, forging ideas, grinned and winked at me. I tilted my head back at him.  
"I'm sure Terry wouldn't mind." Erek said to him. "What's your name, big guy?"  
"My name Tal Ganat."  
"It's nice to meet you Tal." Erek said politely. "So, I suppose I'll see you inside Cassie."  
Cassie nodded and began to rev up the engine. "Remember to get a good table. I'll see you in five."  
We drove away, and around the next corner in a U-turn to come back down the same road and turn into a large open car park to the right hand side of the restaurant. It was surrounded by small, neatly-trimmed identical plants and trees. The truck came to a stop in a space beside the back of the building, a small porchlight set an orange glow in the car. I managed to undo my seatbelt and aided Tal in getting out of the back. We stood there together, waiting for Cassie to get ready.  
"Where we going?" Tal questioned.  
"This is called a restaurant." I told him. "We are going to see Terry O'Donnell."  
He smiled and shifted his weight from one leg to the other. "What is restaurant?"  
"A restaurant is where humans go to if they wish to eat in public or do not want to cook for themselves. At least, this is what I have heard."  
There was a brief pause as we waited, and a cold breeze blew over us. I felt the warm touch of Tal's skin embrace my arm, as he pressed his body against mine. "Cold."  
I leant back into him, finding his warmth almost irresistible. "Yes, it is, but we will be inside soon."  
Cassie slammed her door shut and strolled past the bonnet, a big grin on her face. "Come on, you two. They'll be waiting."


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

'Someone once said that life was for living, life was for happiness, life was love. I cannot help but feel that I have been lied to. How can life be for love when all you have left is hate? How can life be for happiness when all you can do is scream in silence? How can life be for living when you have nothing to live for anymore? My life is nothing but a disaster. My parents, my people, and my son… I've let them all down…

It was reassuring to see the lack of people visiting the restaurant. With my limited vision I saw maybe four or five other cars and a van, appearing as if they were here for other business. It looked like it would be just us four, Terry, and the working staff.  
The restaurant was fancy to say the least: the front entrance was perhaps 20 yards long and lined with wide marble pillars and mosaic patches of light, blotching through hanging plants; an overwhelming stench of polish filled the air, invisible yet greatly discernible; the double-doors were golden and made with dense, sleek metal. It took little force to push them open.  
The ground moved to glowing navy tile and the surroundings changed from the deep dark night sky to the unnerving cosiness of the interior decor. The pillars continued into the main entrance and parted away to the sides.  
Cassie led the way, confidently strolling up to a small single counter emerging from between two pillars. A stout human male wearing black and white clothing stood behind the counter, upright and proffesional. He held in one hand a collection of red leather rectangles, whilst his other hand busied themselves, typing away at a hidden keyboard behind the counter.  
I was surprised by his reaction as he saw us walking towards him. He barely flinched and smiled broadly. He must have known we were coming.  
"Good Evening." He introduced warmly. "Welcome to Terry's."  
"Thank you." Cassie said. "We're Terry's guests tonight."  
"Of course." He shuffled the red rectangular objects and handed one to Cassie. The name 'Terry's' was printed in golden leather font on the front. Very fancy.  
The man got out another menu, and he intended to hand it to me.  
Cassie smiled, amused. "It's OK, these two won't need menus."  
He nodded, placing the menus back on the counter before stepping out in front of us. "Right this way, please." He began to lead us through the restaurant, around a large circular bar area and past several doors leading to the kitchen. It all centred to a huge section of the building where tables lined the floor from wall to wall, a patchy surface of white tablecloth and glowing wax candle light. The tabletops glistened with silver cutlery and perfect dazzling wine glasses. The walls were lined with paintings of other countries and amazing glowing lamps, stretching towards a far window that took up the entire wall like a huge glossy picture frame describing the night within, the trees and the distant stars in one brilliant view. Before the magnificent window, on a big square table, sat two men laughing and holding their beverages. The one on the left was Terry, looking even more heavily made-up than earlier. His hair was swept, and his teeth glistened brighter than his glasses. Erek was on the right, wearing lighter clothing and lying back, relaxed in his seat.  
It was easy to tell from a distance that they had known each other. The conversation, though barely audible through the gulps of alcohol and laughter, was barely held back and trivial.  
The waiter walked us up to the table. "Mr. O'Donnell, your other guests have arrived." He stepped to the side of the table so that we could move through, his out held arm guiding us to our seats.  
Terry looked up, still chuckling and holding his drink. "Thanks, Howard." Howard gave a light bow and walked away.  
Both Terry and Erek stood up as we moved to sit, and the usual introductions were given. Once we were warmly welcomed and familiar with each other, I sat beside Erek, with Tal sitting opposite me and Cassie beside us at the head of the table, facing towards the dominating window.  
"Welcome to Terry's. I'm so glad you could come." Terry said in what was obviously rehearsed. "How about a drink? On me. We have the finest wines, the best coffee, the most expensive champagne from French vineyards." He gulped another sip of his alcohol. "And Guinness. Irelands finest beverage."  
Cassie was zimming through the menu. "I like the variety Mr. O'Donnell, so much to choose from, but I have to go with the _Cabalie_."  
"A fine choice." Terry complimented. "And what will you two have?" He asked, blinking from me to Tal.  
"_Cabalie_?" Tal said.  
Erek smirked and looked up through the menu. "I don't think you should have any wine."  
"No." Cassie agreed. "I think you and Toby should have water. Anything other than that probably wouldn't be good for you."  
"Will we need to drink from a glass?" I queried.  
"I'm sure we can find you something more suitable." Terry said kindly. "So that's… one _Cabalie_, two bowls of water and two pints."  
Cassie rolled her eyes, looking at Erek suspiciously before the waiter showed up again, adhering to Terry's short hand wave. Terry gave the orders and he shuffled away once more.  
I watched as he moved into the bar area and began making up our order, scratching his head and looking up at the shelves patrolled by hundreds of dark, glistening bottles. Freshly-cleaned glasses hung from sections in the ceiling, lined, organised over the empty bar. It drew my attention to the table, the white tablecloth decorated with blood red napkins and rows of silver knives and forks. The silk flame on the candles drew light from the faces sat around me, little sparkles dancing in their eyes, like the stars falling through treetops and the window that watched us. The feel of rough bark digging between my toes, the leaves brushing against my chest and face as I pounced through the sluggish black mist of the night.  
And there, in front of me, he bounded closer to my arms…  
Tal, sitting across the table, pleasuring a smile as I awoke from a familiar daydream.  
I shook away the images and found the others were already deep in conversation. Cassie was already warming to Terry, who seemed much more pleasant than I had first thought.  
"... So I flew down to Germany from Ireland," He explained. "And I opened two restaurants there before coming down here to America. I started in New York and made my way over to San Fransisco."  
"Sounds like you enjoy travelling." Cassie said, intrigued.  
"Oh, I do." He replied. "But I'll be staying here for a while. It's a beautiful area. So many nice people aswell."  
"I noticed that too." Erek added.  
Cassie turned to Erek. "Where are you living at the moment, Erek?"  
"Not too far away. It was a half hour plane journey."  
At this point, the waiter arrived back at the table, carrying on his hand a tray. With a genuine smile he handed us all our chosen drinks. I was given a cup of water, which seemed more like a bowl, filled halfway with clear water. Tal received the same and observed the bowl placed in front of him.  
We thanked the waiter as he took out another little notebook. "Have you decided on your meals?" He said with a proffesional and inviting tone.  
I must have been oblivious to what was going on earlier. Terry, Cassie and Erek had already decided on their meals.  
As Howard arrowed at Tal, he looked to me as if I would know what to say for him, but I had nothing. I looked to Terry. What he said surprised me.  
"Oh, yes, and these two will have the bark special. That is if it's alright with them."  
Both I and Tal nodded, unable to give any other response.  
"Certainly." Said the waiter. "And will you be having desserts?"  
"No thank you, Howard. That'll be all."  
As the waiter delivered the orders, I began to question Terry.  
"What is the 'bark special'?" I asked.  
"Well," He started in his distinctive Irish accent. "Since I was expecting Hork-Bajir here tonight, I thought you would enjoy an appropriate, interesting and unusual meal. I'm sure you'll enjoy it."  
"What does this meal consist of?" I pressed.  
"It is a palette of eight different bark varieties from around the world, each taken from healthy, domestic trees. One is from Ireland, I believe."  
It had excited Tal, but I was still feeling indifferent and was not sure what to think of it all. I was still uncertain as to why he invited us in the first place.  
Terry continued; "It's so nice to have you all here tonight. A real pleasure."  
"It's a pleasure for us to be here." Cassie said. "Before the place has even opened aswell. I feel like a celebrity."  
"You are a celebrity." Erek intervened.  
She huffed and smiled to him. "I choose not be."  
I noticed a shocking glare from Erek, but he ricocheted and turned to me.  
"What have you been doing, Toby?" He asked.  
"I have been doing very little." I admitted. "I go to political meetings once every few months. Apart from that, I stay in the park with the others."  
"Oh yeah, you're in Congress. How's that going?"  
"It's different…"  
He snorted his amusement in a rush of alcohol as he dipped into his glass. He wiped the foam from his facial hair. "And you, Tal?"  
"Tal taken to park. Live there. Find Toby Hamee."  
"When did you two meet?"  
"This morning." I said. "During the harvest. We went to see the parade together."  
"Did you enjoy it?" Terry asked.  
"Yes, it was a new experience."  
"You should go see the Russian circus that's coming here next week." Terry recommended. "They're stopping down by the park for three days. You'll love it. They have everything." He drank from his glass once again and gently set it down, perhaps realising that beer was no longer the appropriate drink. Erek had finished his earlier, and his glass sat empty beside him. He was filing through a spare drinks menu.  
The conversation continued for fifteen minutes before the first signs of food appeared. The faint smell of sliced bark arrived just as the subject of Christmas came up.  
I had heard a lot about the holiday known as 'Christmas' over the past two years. It was a religious tradition, and one that I had never particularly enjoyed. The weather was terrible, the days were shorter, and the humans seemed much more frantic and panicky than usual.  
From what I had heard it was only two weeks away, so Terry was busy explaining his Christmas plan to us.  
"I've decided to have the wife and kids down here for Christmas."  
"Do you see them often?" Cassie asked.  
"As often as I can. Unfortunately that's not a lot." He sipped from his glass of water he had fetched himself earlier. "They want to see the Hork-Bajir."  
I had not gotten involved in the conversation, but I kept track of everything Terry said. I was still curious about him. He was perfectly calm, talkative, and acted as normal as the average human would, but I knew he wanted me here for something. I just could not quite find it yet.  
I stared out through the black window, the crescent moon bulged from the background of space. In the far distance, though the thick, tall trees, came the tiny flickers of campfires.  
A tree nearby rustled in the path of the restaurant lighting, but it was only the building wind.  
I tried my best to stay interested in the conversation, and focused on Erek as he began to explain his own Christmas plans, but before I had even caught up to the conversation, the meals arrived.  
Two waiters squeezed past our seats and layed out the dishes before us. I moved my finished bowl of water out of the way to receive a similar bowl-shaped object. This one was comparatively larger, and filled with…  
Bark!  
My mind fixated entirely on it, my tongue shuffled anxiously within my dripping snout. I sat up quickly in my seat, eager for the familiar taste of delicious bark. My tail swung happily beneath the table as I reached down into the bowl with my claw. A quick throat-clearing sound from Cassie helped me notice the drool dribbling from my snout. I rubbed it away and hoped nobody else had noticed.  
The words 'thank you' escaped my jaw as the waiters left. They took away the bowl and anything else no longer of use, and left us with our food. Me with my bark.  
Cassie's hand grabbed me to stop me from digging in. Terry gave us a small speech, getting up out of his seat to amplify his distinctive Irish accent.  
"Now, before we eat, I just want to say thank you all so much for coming tonight. It's been a real pleasure. So, for you, we've brought together the finest ingredients, the most proffesional chefs along with the traditional Irish touch. Every dish has been expertly crafted for your own eating pleasure. I trust you'll enjoy your food as much as we've enjoyed serving you."  
"Can't we just eat, already?" Erek interrupted.  
Terry shook his head, a smirk growing on his face. "Look, I just spent the last five minutes thinking up this speech. You're going to listen, whether you like it or not."  
"Alright, alright. Carry on."  
This was obviously a type of humour I had not come across before, but even Cassie was finding it amusing.  
Terry paused, and as formally as he had shown all night, said: "Now we may eat…"  
The conversation between him and Erek continued, but I was already well into my bowl, pulling out a long shard of rough bark and delicately laying it onto my tongue, letting the taste fizz through me. I closed my maw around it and crunched into it, deliberately slow to lessen the sounds of snapping bark that would have interrupted the talking that buzzed around the table.  
The taste was extraordinary, clearly not from around here at the cold outer-edge of Yellowstone park. It was rough, yet so smooth in flavour, and warm, like it had just been stripped from the trunk. I swallowed and searched for more in the mixture until I found a similar piece, which quickly found its way into my mouth.  
Terry, Cassie and Erek were keeping up the conversation, whilst slowly picking their way through their meals with knives and forks, and sipping wine from the crytsal clear glasses. A swift, sweet aroma swept deftly from the wax candles and made the taste of fresh bark ever sweeter to the tongue.  
The soft rub of Tal's tail over my leg made me shiver. I smiled to him across the table, and he continued to massage my left leg under the table. His touch blended to near perfection with the ambience of the restaurant.  
Cassie was speaking. "I want to go down South during the Summer. It gets so cold up here, and I just need a month or two during the year when I don't have to wear several layers."  
"Is it always this cold up here?" Erek asked.  
"Yes," I said. "Yellowstone has a long winter season. The park is usually covered in snow for six months a year."  
"Do you get much snow here in this area?" Erek again.  
"Fortunately not," Cassie said. "The temperature gets cooler further in since Yellowstone is surrounded by mountains. The Hork-Bajir all live this side of the mountains, so they arent effected too much by the weather."  
"Did you hear about the forest fires last week?" Terry added.  
"Yes, they come quite often, but never really around here." Cassie.  
"I've heard it was only a couple of miles from here."  
"Well I certainly didn't hear it like that…" Cassie wondered.  
"It wasn't a big fire." Terry concluded. "And nobody was hurt."  
"I have overheard of a fire from a neighbouring camp. My people know what to do in these events, but it has a terrible effect on the area." I casually fetched another slab of bark and chewed on it.  
Erek started to explain of a previous fire in a neighbouring state, but I was pleasantly distracted by Tal's tail wrapped around my lower shin. He then drew my attention to a chunk of bark. He wanted me to taste it.  
I dug through the concoction of my bowl and picked out the same kind of bark. I sniffed it, licked it…  
That taste! It was the bark I had eaten before the parade!  
I pushed it around my mouth with my tongue, making sure the taste was flowing in every little space. I chewed, and as the smooth skin cracked the taste exploded within me, sending an electric shiver down through my entire body.  
So good. So…  
Inviting…  
And it dawned on me.

We continued the casual conversation until the plates were half empty and the moon half buried within the trees. The gentle sweep of the candle light sank ever nearer toward the beckoning tablecloth. My bark still tasted as sweet and appeatizing and my legs had fallen into a blissful sleep with Tal's as the night rolled on. I would occasionally pick from my bowl as Terry talked on.  
The evidence I needed from Terry was slowly growing. I knew why he wanted me here, but now was not the time to bring it up, not in the middle of what had become quite a pleasant evening.  
"I first decided to come down to America to distribute the business, to give the people a taste of Irish culture. To be the biggest Irish restaurant in America."  
I kept my eyes on his in buried fascination, finding myself entangled in his patriotic charms. He certainly knew how to talk to his guests.  
He continued. "I wanted to see the Grand Canyon, Niagra falls, the Statue of Liberty. The kids only wanted to see Disneyland, of course."  
A short laughter breezed from either side of me. I must have misunderstood the joke.  
"We started plans to build this particular restaurant about three years ago. We wanted to make sure it was in the perfect space for accessibility and tourist attractions."  
I angled my view and swallowed a piece of bark jammed between my teeth. "Yellowstone attracts many tourists. It is especially busy in the summer." I added.  
"Exactly!" He took a swig of his wine. "That's the hardest part of the retaurant business, finding exactly the right area. Somewhere people will want to eat, and somewhere without too much competition or excessive distance." He stared out of the window and grinned. "This is the perfect place."  
I studied his expression and took a lap at my bowl.  
Cassie, remaining casual, asked the question that had been buzzing through my head all night. "Do you think the Hork-Bajir will attract people?"  
He barely hesitated but his eyes turned to mine. "Yes, I do. Many people travel around this edge of the park." His confidence was admirable, as was his intellect. "People come from all over the world to see the Hork-Bajir. We're the first restaurant they'll see."  
"You're right." Erek confirmed. "No small restaurant business could afford to set up here, definitely none that I have seen."  
Tal's presence was recalled as his tail crawled up my thigh. He was becoming bored, having already finished his meal and began to ogle me from across the table.  
"How is business elsewhere?" Cassie asked Terry.  
"Fantastic." He beamed. "Our new advertising campaign is really boosting profit. We now have advertisements in the media. I have been personally placing up ads around this city, talking to radio stations, and drawing plans for a TV commercial. Our name is getting bigger and bigger."  
My concentration was being drawn away as Tal played games with my feet beneath the table. I treated him an inviting stare and his tail started rubbing faster against my leg. I felt the need to remind him of where he was and gave him a discrete kick.  
"People are flocking to our restaurants." Terry persisted. "We hired a hundred more staff just to keep up with the demand. One restaurant was so busy on a summer night, that the queues were lining up outside the doors. People tried cramming in through the back door."

Somehow I did not quite believe that last statement.  
A misplaced swing of my tail caused a jump from Tal, spraying small chunks of unfinished bark across the table. Everyone jerked as the mixture of food and dribble splattered over the white tablecloth.  
"Tal sorry…" He apologised, embarrassed by his sudden outburst and now doing his best to clear up the chunks which had fortunately stayed away from everybody elses meals.  
"It's alright." Terry calmed, handing him a small cloth. "Just clean it up with this."  
Erek and Cassie were snickering like they had heard some inner-joke. I sat feeling slightly guilty and had retreated my ambitious tail for the moment, whilst retaining my 'innocent' smile.  
He finished clearing up the former contents of his mouth and dropped the cloth into his empty bowl. He was the first to finish. "Thank you. Bark good."  
"You're very welcome, Tal."  
"It is good bark." I confirmed. "Were all these varieties harvested from those trees?" I hinted towards the closest trees that were barely visible through the large window.  
"Yes. Seven different species altogether."  
I knew what he wanted. It had become apparent to me that this was nothing more than an innocent tourist attraction. That said, he was still using me.  
"My people may not find this area." I feigned. "It is too far away from the harvesting grounds, and most will choose to avoid human contact and these residential areas."  
His smile was quick to fade, perhaps realising that I had figured him out.  
Of course, most Hork-Bajir would flock here to collect some of the delicious new bark, and he knew that. He also knew that they would not come if not given any incentive. He wanted me to bring them here.  
"Do you wish for me to bring my people here?" I asked, then added with a deeper undertone, "I am sure that they will attract your customers."  
Terry rubbed his forehead with his fingers, perhaps hiding his own embarrassment, but after merely seconds of averting his gaze, he straightened up, freshened and bright, the engaging smile back on his face. "Alright, you got me." He took a gulp of his drink and wiped his mouth.  
Cassie was not as surprised as I first anticipated. "So is this area undivided from the park?"  
"Yes. No fences."  
"Did you get permission from the local council?" I asked, growing ever more suspicious.  
"Of course. They didn't seem to mind. They seemed to rather like the idea."  
"It's a good idea," Cassie agreed. "But the Hork-Bajir come on their own accord."  
"Yes, I know." He grinned and looked up at me again. "Toby, could you perhaps do me a favour?"  
I sighed under my breath. "You wish for me to bring my people to your trees…"  
"That's all I'm asking."  
My eyes trailed to my half-empty bowl, head lowered weakly into my sustaining claw that perched on the edge of the table. This was something I would need to think over. He would be using us for his own gain and his business' reputation, but what harm could it possibly do to my people? We were getting new, free bark for nothing. Delicious bark, at that.  
I blinked back up, as each face was targeting mine, eyes drawn to me like missiles.  
"May we discuss this at another time?" I considered aloud, as my head began to spiral.  
"Of course." Terry said wholeheartedly. "This doesn't need to be sorted now. We are not here on business terms."  
I smiled. "Thank you Terry."  
The table reverted back to the usual chat and laughter, but I could no longer concentrate. A reverbant itch at the back of my head was pulling me away from the bowl sat before me. I could no longer think clearly, could not hear the words that bounced over the table. I could not see Tal.  
My claws caught onto the edge of the table and slowly brought me back. I shook the fever from my head and attempted to focus on the humans around me, but the calm voices had become sharp and twisted in my head, sounding ever more like desperate screams.  
I reached into my bowl. Softened delicate bark against my rougher skin. My mouth salivated, longing for the sweetness as it dropped into my craving mouth and twirled through my senses.  
A different taste came to me. A liquid so sour on the tongue that it burnt through to my feet.  
I reached back into my snout to retreat the chunk.  
Held it in front of my own eyes and shuddered.  
It dripped a familiar drip.  
My eyes followed the bark as it dropped from my claw back into the bowl. It submerged within a stale blue-green liquid. The same liquid that trailed up over the bowl and over the table. It dripped up my legs and my belly, hanging from my snout and crawling around my clawed fingers.  
I gasped, trails of blood spewing across the perfect white tablecloth, and I gaped down at the bowl that had begun to bleed a liquid nightmare. There were no more noises, only the swift dances of unreal lights and images that sucked the life from the table that broadened before me. All eyes staring at me. Bearing down at me.  
But they never saw me.  
Trickling blood crept down my long neck and stained my pulsating chest. Desperate gasps and moans were the only sounds breathing around the table. Most of them were from me. A damp barrage, huffs of sadistic laughter drifted from behind. A laughter that was neither inside nor outside of me. Forever behind me. An invisible being.  
It was laughing at me. Mocking me.  
Only a helpless whimper managed to break my throat as I sat holding and shaking my head in my arms, praying the nightmare would leave me alone.  
But something was clicking. Something in my head died…  
So I looked up.  
They were all gone. The humans had vanished.  
All but Tal.  
He had no movement and no pupils. No soul. He sat there, in front of me, staring with blank, blue and green orb-eyes. A static energy that filled the room.  
Splinters ravaged my fingertips, inadvertently digging into the table surface, the crumpling, snapping, moaning through my head like a steady aching buzz. It was all but a drone. Colours faded into one another, faces melted into the background.  
I was all that remained, as the world around me blotched into whiteness.  
"No…"  
I was here again, thrown back into the infinite nothingness, with nothing but my broken breathing to keep me company.  
But then was something else…  
A blue mist before me, certainly not the creature I had encountered the last time I found myself here.  
It had no definitive shape or form, no real physical rules, and it was reaching out to me, calling my name…

My eyes were flushed with moisture, shadowing the area in a vibrant blur. It was a mixture of violet-blue, grey and a bright row of light stretching far to my left. A slight breeze blew over me, cold and icy to the touch.  
I rose wearily to my feet and held my balance, rubbing at my eyes with my knuckles to clear my stinted vision. As I reopened them, I saw a vapour rising in rhythm with my breathing, and the cold began to sink into my skin. I grunted and retreated my tail between my legs and up around my belly, whilst surveying my position. It was a human environment, recognisable from the hideous grey structures and the brilliant bright streetlamps. Twisting my long neck, my eyes found a pitch black passageway, some sort of back-alley.  
I noticed the lack of activity. There were no cars, no humans, just the desolate glow of neon and the hum of a silent generator. I felt alone and helpless, with questions running through my head, as to how I ended up in such a place. Where was I to go now? My primary instinct was to escape the bitter cold, and I hustled over to the dark alleyway. The light dimmed rapidly as I slowed my pace, my sight limited to mere shapes as I escaped the open street, creeping into the claustrophobia of the alley.  
It was not long before I found myself lost in pitch black.  
I leant against a dripping, wet wall - with what, I was unsure - and attempted to figure out how I could have gotten here. All I remembered was the restaurant; sitting at the fine oak table; listening to Terry's stories; all the while, my concentration focused on Tal as we played with our feet and tails under the table, staring into each others eyes. I began to feel even more alone.  
There grew a scent, quickly and from out of nowhere. A rancid stench that clenched at my nostrils and drilled into my throat, drifting over my tongue to give a peculiar and foul taste. I gagged and held my snout, but my curiosity as to where the smell was descended kept me glued to the spot.  
Sudden white light, blaring from the doorway which had appeared on the opposite side of the alley. A neon security light. Lone beam casting a gaze like a magnet. Eyes burnt, drawn back to the warmth of the darkness.  
Another wave of the stench burst over me, thrusting me back against the wall. A wooden wall. A fence. My blades split through and caught, locking me awkwardly in place as I yelled in sheer horror. I could not move, only struggle as the fence held my arms tightly in place.  
Only then did I see the source of the stench.

Slumped directly under the lights beam lay a corpse. Dead. Rotting against a rusty metal door. The slashes patterned on its skin, and the gaps where chunks or flesh were absent, had turned black, but for the small writhing of maggots feeding off the rotten bone that protruded from the cracked skin.  
This body had been sat here unnoticed - perhaps - for days. Maybe even weeks.  
The fear I felt as I set my eyes on it brought on a bout of frenzied thrashing. The sight of maggots slithering from its gaping jaw, and the sloshing sounds of them feeding off the putrid dead flesh was all too much, but my blades only dug deeper into the wood as I flailed helplessly.  
But I was silenced.  
The tightened decaying skin and the yellowed teeth sticking out awkwardly from the bottom jaw did not stop me identifying a face I had only seen in mirrors…  
My face.  
Nothing could have been yelled or screamed to express how I felt at that moment. Only my forced silence could explain.  
It did not explain what happened next though, for it came to life.  
Now silence was not an option. I screamed and screamed, not taking the time to inhale, nor taking my eyes of the corpse which rose slowly and jerkedly to its feet.  
Nobody came to my aid, no matter how hard I cried out. I was left alone, stuck screaming against a fence, watching as my own corpse began to limp towards me, each step an earthquake in my mind, rocking my senses. It was destroying my very sanity. I felt it melt away to nothing, draining to the slimy ground. My mind shuffled and changed, losing all that was me.  
My eyes were closed, and I had barely realised. Nor did I realise that I had stopped screaming.  
An inner stirring pulled open my eyelids, and there I was, staring back at myself. The eyes were mine, but they burned with a madness, an unreal sickness that twined and spread through my very soul.  
"Die."

From the floor, the restaurant looked a mess. Several seats lay as splinters, torn to pieces; a small window to the left of where we had sat was now decorating the red carpet, coupled with stains of what I believed consisted of sweat, tears and blood. A large painting had been smashed, forming a collar around a sorrowful-looking statue.  
For some reason, I had a niggling feeling that I was behind this.  
Movement brought to my attention the presence of Erek, who was stood several feet from my legs which lay sprawled on the ground. Sweat dripped from his forehead, as his kept to a safe distance from me.  
My head raised and received a jolt of guilt, looking at what I had done to Terry's once proud décor. Erek's movent equilized mine, backing away nervously and sustaining a concerned look on his face.  
He spoke up. "Toby? You OK now?"  
I was not so sure about my self control but I nodded to show him that I was back. "What happened, Erek?"  
"I think I should ask you the same question. You went berserk!"  
I sluggishly lifted myself to my feet and attempted to hide my embarrassment. "I do not know what happened. The last thing I remember was sitting at the table."  
"From what we saw you just decided to trash the entire restaurant."  
I jerked. "Tal. Cassie. Terry. Are they hurt?"  
"No, but Cassie sure ain't happy…"  
All I could do was stare at my feet. Tonight was the first time that he and Cassie had met for over a year, and I had single-handedly ruined it. Not only was I choked by the remorse, but my mind repeated the strange hallucination over and over.  
Erek moved closer, still cautious. Perhaps he thought that I was in an unpredictable state. I could not agree more.  
I held a claw against my head. "Erek, I believe there is something wrong with me."  
"Yeah, Cassie said that you had been behaving strangely today. She's going to take a look at you tomorrow."  
I sighed and leaned back against the stained wall, feeling utterly miserable. "I am sorry Erek. I have ruined your evening."  
He smiled reassuringly and slapped his hand kindly on my shoulder. "Hey, don't be. We know that you're sick. We're just thankful that you didn't do any harm."  
"No."  
His eyebrow raised. "Excuse me?"  
"Erek, I think I've killed myself."


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER 8**

'_Someone once said that life was for living, life was for happiness, life was love. I cannot help but feel that I have been lied to. How can life be for love when all you have left is hate? How can life be for happiness when all you can do is scream in silence? How can life be for living when you have nothing to live for anymore? My life is nothing but a disaster. My parents, my people, and my son… I've let them all down… I just hope they cannot see through these walls and chains to stare upon me, for my hearts would simply break._

The night was silent. We sat with uncomfortable tension in Cassie's truck, concentrating on the steady buzz of the engine as we rolled against the side of the road. The sound of the engine stuttered to a halt and left me only with the company of anxious breaths coming from the two front seats. Once again, I found myself lying uncoordinately on the extended back seats. The window above me had been lowered, relieving me with a fresh breeze. It was there as a precaution.  
I lifted my cramped neck and rested my snout on the window frame. With several deep breaths I regained my focus and looked around. We were parked in the clinic car park, the mountains visible as black protrusions far in the background. My camp was nearby, and I could see a small orange glow of a fire in the distance. I longed to be there, to be home again.  
My attention shifted to the large gloomy building partly blockading my view. Two rooms were lit, but the rest of building was dead. Cassie would make sure to drag me back here tomorrow morning, and she would not rest until she knew what was wrong with me. That I was sure of.  
There came a click as Cassie unlocked the trucks doors. She climbed out and stretched before taking a coat, adding the extra layer to hold off the cold for a little longer. She came around the front and opened Tal's door, helping him to get out whilst avoiding damage to the truck interior. He grunted and shivered in a breeze that blew over softly, whistling over the cracks and crevises of the building that loomed over us, and he moved a hand towards my door to let me out of the truck. Cassie instinctively threw out an arm and grabbed his wrist. Tal stopped and sadly retreated his arm from the door. With my performance today, Cassie was taking heavy precaution, and she stared long into my eyes for any signs of a repeat.  
I wanted to tell her that I was not insane as perhaps she thought, that I could make my own way home without incident. Somehow I felt like I was lying to myself. In my frail state, walking through the full dark of the night all alone could set off another attack (or whatever the hallucinations were).  
She edged forward, placing her palm around the handle. Giving me time to move away from the door, she opened it.  
Her hand held under my arm and aided me from the truck, and we stood in the car park, cold and confused, looking at each other and waiting for someone to break the silence.  
"Well, this is awkward." Cassie stated correctly.  
I simply nodded.  
"Come on, Toby." She continued. "Don't feel guilty. Just come back here tomorrow and we'll find whatever is wrong with you. Everything will be fine." She smiled, rather more ensured of her safety now. "You had better take Tal home."  
A smile shone briefly across his snout, my apparent sickness not enough to deter him from spending time alone with me, so it seemed.  
"Yes, Cassie, and thank you for having us today." I said in a misplaced and cliched tone.  
"It's no problem Toby, just get home and cheer up a bit." She grinned and nudged at my arm.  
The mood was considerably brighter as we parted ways. Cassie drove back to her home in her big truck, leaving me and Tal to brush hurriedly through the trees. The smell of the camp helped to guide me past familiar branches that were hidden within the dark. The memories of gliding through here day after day told me where every large branch protruded, the way to deal with each awkward turn, and even the tiniest individual grooves in the bark to grapple onto.  
We emerged from the border of trees into the opening, now covered in a light veil of snow. Invisible snowflakes announced their presence as they coated the hard tip of my snout. The snow left a series of random patches in the centre of the camp, forming a circle around the large glowing fire that sprang out like an icon among the bodies that sat amongst it. A distinctive smell of _mefah_ bark crept to me and persuaded me over to the swollen crowd of Hork-Bajir that had gathered from the closest surrounding groups.

Bark that was collected from the mornings harvest had been piled up high to my left. Several Hork-Bajir had circled the pile and talked quietly amongst themselves, whereas the vast majority was relaxing in the fires warm glow, breathing in the pleasant smell of the _mefah_.  
My hand clutched at Tal's and pulled him over to empty space before the fire, a drag of the mefah making me shudder and grin, a brief and welcomed high. We laid down in the cramped space together, sheeted by the comfortable orange glow that tempted a well-needed sleep, with only the crunching of various slabs of bark prying my eyes back open.  
It was not long before I too was munching loudly on my share of the harvest. Tal had fetched us both some bark from the steadily disappearing pile, and made one of his own between us. I spotted a particularly large slab poking out from the centre of the pile, and with my stomach telling me I needed something a little more filling than nibbles, I pulled it messily from the pile and rested it on my belly.  
The camp was getting quieter. Silent individual conversations became clear, echoing announcements, disrupted only by snoring that came from either side of us. The cold winter air was a welcoming contrast to the fires warmth, and threatened to lull me to the land of dreams.  
It came as a shock when Tal eventually laid back on the cool grass, his eyes flicking and finally shutting for the night. Perhaps ogling at my tail for hours on end had forced him into an early snooze.  
I sighed, finding that I was in the minority that had carried on awake. After stretching my limbs, I fumbled through the pile of bark that Tal had left for me, and munched hungrily through it. I was saving the largest slab for after, but it was already sheeted with my saliva and sat there begging to be chewed. A piece of Pine followed a brief inhalation of mefah, freeing an unexpected purr of satisfaction as my eyes seemed to turn upside down in my head.  
The effects of the strange bark were always a treat for those who could stay awake long enough to feel them. The burning _mefah_ gave Hork-Bajir a big lift. After seeing the effects of the _mefah_, our carers recommended that we use it daily as a way to rid ourselves of any post-war depression that may have lingered. It was a near-perfect solution.  
And after todays events, I needed it.  
Twitches portrayed flashing memories, but the dulling spell of the bark remained and calmed my mind. I was struggling, and the lack of activity made my brain want to understand the hallucinations that had been haunting me, but the day had left it tired and worn, unable to add the pieces up. I could only find the motivation to curl up and sleep where I sat, but the anxiety that dug through and hurt me was only prolonging the night, pressing to the conclusion that I would not sleep.  
I took a stroll around the outskirts of the enclosure, where the cold breeze was unobstructed by the tall trees and the frequent rush of cars strobed on me with their white blinding lights. They came as a welcome cure for the darkness that surrounded as I stomped aimlessly to no particular place.  
There was no explanation for the faces that seemed to watch me in the dark. The eerie glows that consisted may have merely been a trick played on me by my own mind, perhaps the lack of sleep bringing on premature dreams. Strange creatures danced around me with no familiar face, though they talked to me like they had known me for years and they circled me like an icon, or some ritual sacrifice.  
But they talked with silence, and they danced with mourn.  
The creatures dragged me to the ground, and they yelled out inaudible demands. I did nothing, and sank breathlessly to the soil where I passed on, with but a defeated cough. The dances came to a cease, and the talking became the whistle of the wind through the trees.  
The soil rumbled, and a beam of light fell on me, a vehicle rolling up close door opened and the owners legs came rushing into my faded sight. He came to my side and he knelt down with concern on his hairy face, his appearance dispersing the creatures that had dragged me to the ground.  
I looked up with relief, and told him of my situation, my name and how I was just tired. Why did he not respond?  
Hands grabbed at my shoulders and shook me, and I responded with a weak groan.  
"I am awake," I told him. "I am awake."  
Still he shook.  
"Come on, Toby! Wake up! Please!"  
He began to slap me across my face, and I complained to no avail. Something was wrong.  
But with a firm backhand to my head, I woke up.  
I looked up to Erek who was dripping with sweat, his spare hand wrapped firmly around my wrist, with the other ready to slap me across the face again.  
"Oh thank God! Toby, I thought I'd lost you!"  
I stared at him before struggling to my feet, feeling faint and lost. The area was unfamiliar to me, but a road was stretching far on my left, void of trees. Erek must have seen my body lying here in the mud.  
"Erek. Where am I?" I queried weakly, on full alert as my head searched for something.  
"It doesn't matter Toby. Let's just get you home."  
He guided me slowly to his car, and we drove back into the night. I had walked several miles, and it took a while before we were back at the park.  
For the whole drive, I sat without a word. 

As the sun set once more, leaving the rich landscape in fledgling shadow, the valleys of the enclosure came to life with the sounds of crackling wood and dronal mumbling. The snow had left us, and the ground instead was invaded by the beautiful orange glow of the setting sun, disturbed only by the blackened veil of the trees where I sat. I looked upon my friends and family as they rushed to start the fire that would keep them warm for the night, and the children who would rush with imperfect grace through the canopies playing their little games. Little creatures scurried along the ground and up the trunks in a final attempt to find some food before the dark drew in, and the creatures of the night began their foraging. I would watch small insects as they crunched through the litter that rested on the hard ground and provided the soft blanket on which I sat.  
Three days had crawled by, and things had returned back to normality. Erek had driven me to the clinic and I slept there overnight. The following day was taken up with rigorous tests to find what, if anything was wrong with me. Cassie believed it was psychological, but she had found nothing leading.  
Today was the first day where I had not been recalled into the clinic, and I had suffured no further symptons since Erek found me collapsed twenty-seven miles from the park.  
Cassie had voluntarily performed all the tests on me and found nothing, but with each positive result came a nervous contrast of doubt. She feared the worst, but I would try to convince her that I felt fine, and that the hallucinations were over. It seemed that nothing I could say would calm her nerves.  
Tal Ganat had not left my side since the day we met. What I felt from him was more than just concern...  
He was sitting beside me, scratching pictures onto the trunk of a pine tree, using his sharp claws to dig at the surface of the bark. His drawings were never understandable, often ending up as unrecognisable scribbles, however I much enjoyed watching him show off his creative side.  
Once he had given up his drawing, he sat and leaned into me, picking at his sappy claws. "Tal make picture. Picture for Toby."  
I briefed over the image that had been scratched onto the tree trunk, and I found it impossible to decipher. Nevertheless, I was very grateful. "Thank you Tal. What is it?"  
"Big tree. Biggest tree."  
I smiled and leaned back into him, staring back out to the lively crowd as the fire was finally lit. The atmosphere was settling, and the sun had submerged fully behind the horizon. The cold of the night was seeping through the branches, which only made us clutch closer together.  
"Shall we sit by the fire?" I asked Tal.  
He shook his head. "Eat."  
"There is food by the fire."  
"Better bark." He replied with a smile. His hand took mine and lifted me briskly to my feet, taking me pleasantly by surprise.  
"I cannot say no."  
He took me far from the camp, and to the far end of the Hork-Bajir enclosure. It was an area I had only rarely passed through, if only to get from one place to another, but as we breached deeper in, the scents of new trees filled my snout. The variety of smell almost overwhelmed me, and I had to stop myself crashing into a large trunk as we almost flew through the tight-packed flora.  
I had to put aside my enthusiasm though, as a large metal fence came into view, splitting its way straight between the trees. Feeling obligated to inspect and decide where we were actually going, I pulled Tal back and made my way down the the shiny new fence. After quick investigation, I came to the conclusion as to why it was there.  
The trees on our side of the fence were different to those on the other side. Even the ground gave a different hue. Those trees had been specially planted for a reason, but they were ever so tempting...  
"New trees." Tal informed me, as if I had not already figured that out.  
"Yes, Tal." I replied. "I believe these are Terry's trees."  
And sure enough, I caught the sight of a building through the distant trees to our left. Tal seemed disappointed and stared lustfully at the new trees, but I had the feeling that Terry had inteded for us to enter, hence the lack of a more effective fence.  
"It is alright, Tal. Terry wants us to eat from these trees." I jumped back up into the canopy and deftly over the fence. He did not doubt me, and eagerly followed.  
My feet brushed over unfamiliar branches as I wandered curiously around the 'garden', taking note of its size and the number of trees. Through the bundles of leaves I saw the restaurant, and looking through the large window that made up the side of the dining area I saw the repair work still underway.  
I averted my eyes from the building which I had partly destroyed and sniffed at the air, fumbling my mind through the smells of the ripe trees, while Tal wandered off after spotting something of interest.  
Saliva was beginning to drip from my snout. The sheer sensation of all the exotic food was just begging for me to dig into the nearest tree and not stop until I could explode. A lovely thought, but one I would have to resist in order to hold onto my dignity. Scratching lightly at the nearest branch, I cut off a slither of smooth, sappy bark and chewed on it. It was such a rich taste, sweet and delicious, but my tongue wanted something else.  
Sniffing around, I eventually found what I was looking for. The tree had already been stripped in parts from where Tal had dug at it before, and he appeared determined to finish the job, sitting down to continue an unfinished meal.  
Grinning inanely, I bounded over and sat on the branch beside Tal, and before I could mutter a word, a huge slab of bark was crammed into my mouth, my tongue lapping to delve into the glorious flavour.  
How could food be so perfect? So beautiful? I almost collapsed, but Tal's tail had wrapped tightly around my waist and was holding me close.  
At first, I was sceptical about Terry's approach to attracting more customers, but with bark like this being supplied to us, we could not refuse. Besides, our half of the deal was just to show ourselves to his customers every so often.  
I could have met up with Terry again to discuss it further, but for now, my focus was on Tal. Entirely.  
So we sat there on a steady branch, slowly carving through the unfortunate tree, watching the stars sprinkle over the purple sky. The echos of the crickets and crunching of small animals in the undergrowth formed a calming atmosphere, and with the warm touch of Tal's tail against my leg made it the perfect night.  
The bark from the tree was disappearing quicker as we stuffed ourselves with the heavenly flavour, and without a single word sat there for what seemed like hours just staring at the stars and into each others eyes, and when we had eaten as much bark as we could fit into our bellies, we sat intertwined against the trunk of the tree.  
Tal and I snuggled closely together to watch the night flow on, and I had never felt so at peace.  
"I have enjoyed this night." I told him. "Thank you."  
His hand took mine and held it tightly, eyes smiling to me, while he slipped out his tongue and licked me lustfully across my snout, an action comparable to a human kiss.  
"I think we shall leave that until we get home." I offered him a teasing look, but my eyes drew down and found the scar on his torso to focus on. It was then that I realised that I knew nothing of his history, and I had to ask.  
I gently rubbed over the mark that graffitied his body. "Where did you get this from?"  
He looked down at the scar that lined him. "Andalite."  
"You were a slave."  
"Slave." He confirmed, placing a claw to his forehead. "Yeerk in head."  
"Please tell me about it." I asked like an eager child.  
His eyes closed for a moment and he grunted lightly. Reopening his eyes, he began to speak.  
"Tal born on ship. Yeerk in head. Tal have gun and shoot Gedd." He raised his arm as if he were holding a weapon and tried to imitate the sound. "Go to Earth."  
"You were rescued on Earth?"  
His reply surprised me. "Tal not. Andalite hurt Tal and yeerk leave."  
My head cocked. "Your yeerk left you?"  
"Yes. Yeerk say 'Tal die', then go. Tal live and run away."  
"Where did you go?"  
"Run away and live in tree. Long time."  
What I was hearing was quite a surprise. How could a Hork-Bajir live on Earth as a rogue without being found, or even shot by a wandering human? It also sprang the question of whether there were more out there. It was a possibility, though not one I found entirely pleasing to think about.  
"I assume that you were found and brought here." I said. He responded with a nod.  
His story was not too disimilar to others, though most of the Hork-Bajir who currently resided here had been rescued from Yeerk clutches over the last few years. Many by the Animorphs, though the more recent arrivals had been taken by Andalite surveillance ships which came across stranded Yeerk settlements. The Andalites would decide a deal with the Yeerks and would take the hosts for re-homing. Deals with the lone Yeerk forces were easy, as they were always lacking vital supplies.  
Again, I blinked down to the big scar, and I knew who was responsible. There was only one free Andalite on Earth at the time, but it no longer mattered, for Tal was here with me now. I was infinitely thankful for that.  
We made our way back to the camp where everyone was awake and buzzing, for the beautiful night sky had introduced a new liveliness and a joyous atmosphere. The young had fallen asleep in their mothers arms, whilst they enjoyed a warm fire-side feast with friends and family.  
Our carers had not supplied us with _mefah_ today, but we had been given more water and a big rubber tyre, though that may have been picked up by one of us. It was currently being used as a seat.  
For a while, we sat with the others and talked, but we could not eat another bite and retreated back to my tree together.  
In my tree we had a sturdy branch, and a nest that had been built solidly into the canopy. Above that was a look-out. Before slinking back to the nest we made ourselves comfortable on the branch overlooking the camp.  
We did not expect to see an owl perching on a branch overhead, staring down at us. Tal began to tickle me, his fingers creeping up my side and finding a sensitive area just below my ribs.  
"Tal..." I said between laughter, "The owl..."  
He did not seem to understand the warning, and the tickling started to become more of a caress.  
Is this a bad time?  
Tal suddenly stopped and looked around in surprise, whereas I looked back to the owl. "Hello Cassie, it is a good time."  
I can see that. She laughed, and the small owl glided down to sit upon a blade on my head. Hello Tal.  
He gave her an embarrassed smile, having withdrawn back to his place on the branch.  
"This is Cassie." I told him. "She has morphed a bird. An owl."  
The concept flew by him, but he seemed to understand that he was talking to Cassie, at least.  
Sorry if I've disturbed anything. I just came to check up on you guys. She said cheerfully.  
"Things have been fine. We received our water this evening, and we appear to have found a tyre." I indicated to the tyre, which was seating three Hork-Bajir.  
Toby, you know how we feel about foreign objects.  
"You are right Cassie. I will take it to the clinic tomorrow."  
Might as well, we want you back for more tests.  
I groaned, for that was one thing I did not wish to hear. "Please, Cassie, I do not want any more tests." I tried to convince her with the saddest expression I could pull off, but it is a hard task to achieve when they are sitting atop your head.  
Toby, we still don't know what's wrong with you, and we need to find out!  
I sighed. "Cassie, I am fine. I have have no further symptoms or hallucinations."  
You fell off of a building, you destroyed Terry's restaurant, and you walked almost thirty miles from the park and collapsed! You look me in the eyes and tell me there is nothing wrong with you.  
She was right, and I knew deep down inside that I was not well at all. I just hated the tests so much...  
"I am sorry, Cassie. You are right."  
I'm not trying to be mean. I know you don't like all these tests and spending days sitting in the waiting room, but if anything was to happen to you...  
"Do not worry about me." I smiled. "I am sure that I will be fine."  
She left it at that, and gazed out over the camp. She was quick to draw attention to my mother, who was sat on the far side of the group looking sorry for herself, an ugly white bandage wrapped around her left foot and lower shin. Hopefully that bandage will last more than a day. She always manages to lose them somehow.  
"She bites at them." I revealed, chuckling to myself. "Mother finds them very irritating."  
Right on cue, she lifted her leg to her snout and nibbled roughly at it.  
I thought so. She made a strange sort of humming noise which I found was not too distant from a sigh. She needs to stop doing that or her foot will never heal.  
"She will learn to stop eventually."  
Hopefully. She dropped from my head onto a small branch ahead of us. I almost forgot to tell you, there's another 'rep' meeting next week, and they want you to attend this time. I detected a hint of impatience in her voice.  
"They never give me directions. I end up lost. Can they not just meet in the same places?"  
She huffed amusingly. Why are you asking me? Just make sure you turn up for once, otherwise i'll get the blame.  
"I am sorry, but they do not seem to like me."  
Only because you farted during a meeting on global warming. She sniggered out loud to further my embarrassment. Fortunately, the conversation had lost Tal long ago and he was too busy scratching himself to pay attention.  
"You are always telling me that."  
It's funny.  
I smiled. "To you, perhaps..."  
Well, if you decide to go, i'll take you to the zoo afterwards.  
"Thank you, I would love that." I said with a grin.  
Cassie's owl body began to ready its wings, preparing to drift down to the ground below. I should leave you and Tal alone. I'm sure you have better things planned than talking to owls, so I'll go talk to Ket.  
"She will be happy to see you." I shuffled eagerly over to Tal. "Thank you for informing me."  
My pleasure. Goodbye Tal.  
He stopped scratching himself and waved. "Goodbye bird Cassie."  
Cassie left us with a few final words: It's about time, Toby. You need a boyfriend.  
I assumed this was private thought-speech, and I waved to her as she dropped down to the ground.  
"Why is Cassie bird?" Tal questioned.  
I saw Cassie, back in her natural form, reveal herself from the bushes, wearing warm, practical clothing, and a pair of large rubber boots. She had recently achieved the ability to morph full clothing... somehow. At least she could save a bit of money.  
She wandered over to the camp and was given the tyre to sit on, and the excited Hork-Bajir crowded around to say their welcomes.  
Meanwhile, I was left with Tal. Alone.  
"Let us not ask questions." I replied to him, a suggestive smirk appearing on my eager snout.


	9. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER 9**

'_Someone once said that life was for living, life was for happiness, life was love. I cannot help but feel that I have been lied to. How can life be for love when all you have left is hate? How can life be for happiness when all you can do is scream in silence? How can life be for living when you have nothing to live for anymore? My life is nothing but a disaster. My parents, my people, and my son… I've let them all down… I just hope they cannot see through these walls and chains to stare upon my failure and my pain, for my soul would simply break.  
I sit here now, writing for what seems like the millionth time, in the hope that someday, someone will read over this and think about what happened to us all._

From nothingness, I found myself centred within a mass of trees. The motion of my turning head breathed an unreal echo, like the wind was leaving a short-lived shadow, and the water dripping from the rain-soaked leaves felt like a barrage of gun fire leaving me with a dire bleakness.  
My right foot churned forward and dipped into the muddy litter.  
Making my way through the desolate collection of trees, it became apparent that I was far from home. The only scents raiding my nostrils were those of my own fear, and the raw waft of unharvested bark.  
But my mind craved no bark, nor the comfort of other Hork-Bajir. It craved for nothing I had encontered before, and it all seemed so confusing.  
Weeds brushing against my shins brought my sight to a harsh, crippled body. The scars that ravished my body to the point of mutilation threw a frozen shiver down my spine. I could no longer recognise my own legs, nor my own arms. It was as I had been dragged through bushes of rusty barbed wire.  
Something came to me. A faint, if non-existant being was controlling how my legs aimed to smoother ground on which to step. My eyes saw where I did not want to see.  
Trees around me were distorted, twisting and closing in at the corners of my eyes, cloaked in a warning array of hideous colour, but I could not cry out. I could not close my eyes.  
Ahead came a bright light. The sun was creeping around the canopies and gaping down at me, but the stereotypical joy and excitement of a bright sunny day had been replaced by a troubling radiation that blinded me. However, my legs continued to carry me forward into the naked gaze of the sky, engulfing my damaged form in its baking heat.  
I stopped, clawed feet digging into the soft wet grass, my gaze wondering over a limited range.  
For a moment, the suns ravenous rays were subsided as a long winged shadow flew overhead. An itch arose. A niggling, familiar situation.  
And the shadow flew down towards me.  
Tobias?  
There came movement over the hill from where the sun was rising. Five large figures came running into view, while the hawk circled warily above, keeping a close eye on the proceedings.  
It was the Animorphs! They had returned!  
I wanted to run to them and greet them. To ask them of their expedition.  
But I did not budge, nor did I even grin. Just stood stiff.  
They moved cautiously forward and surrounded me. A tiger, a gorilla, a wolf, a bear, and an andalite. Tobias loomed far overhead.  
Why was nobody saying anything? Why was _I_ not saying anything?  
The wolf descended slowly down towards me, her pupils fixed on mine, and in them I saw Cassie. She was scared.  
In my head, I spoke to her, and kindly petted her wolf head. My body though, remained static.  
That was, until I began to growl.  
Before she could begin to back away, my leg swung around and collided with a thump against the wolf chest. She flew several feet through the air, and slammed into the ground. Dead.  
No...  
An ear-breaking shriek rang over me, and I turned to dodge Tobias' flying talons by millimetres as the signal to attack was passed. He swooped by and began to turn back as Jake pounced, his huge tiger body flying at speed through the air.  
With an instinctive and clumsy movement, I evaded the outstretched claws, but a trailing leg smashed into my snout and threw my head back. My balance lost, I tumbled hard onto my back.  
I clawed at the ground as Marco loomed over me, anger painted over the black leathery gorilla face. His fist wrapped around my thigh like a twig, and with little effort and a tightening grip, my bone snapped clean in half.  
The pain! The sheer agony! I threw my arms forward, and a blade scraped at his shoulder. Superficial damage, but enough for him to release my quickly numbing leg.  
He snarled at me with cruel yellow teeth, but I had moved a surprising distance from the danger, even with my leg dangling uselessly, the bone poking from the skin.  
It was six against one, an unwinnable fight, yet I fought on. Now it was Ax and Rachel's turn.  
I grasped at Rachels furry coat as she slammed me with a thankfully inaccurate blow on my side. My remaining leg worked with my strong tail to hold me up, but I missed the Grizzlys belly, her momentum carrying her away from my flailing arm.  
Ax was a little less mobile, seething a few metres away. The menacing tail blade was simply waiting for the others to clear before swinging for my vulnerable neck.  
Without warning, he struck.  
FWAPP!  
The blade connected with thin air.  
My claw had grabbed his tail, taking a firm grip on the hairy, fleshy skin. He froze with shock, and I yanked him roughly back, my elbow connecting sharply with his andalite nose. The blood spurted over my arm.  
Tobias was quickly morphing to a more powerful form. He stood beside Cassie's still body, while the others took it in turns to bring me down.  
Now It was Jake's turn again, and with a fearful growl he swiped with a mallet-like paw, paving claw marks deep into my chest.  
I yelled and hunched forward, clutching at the wound.  
But this was no time to feel the pain. The ground beneath my feet trembled, and I turned to see a juggernaut of hair pounding towards me.  
Rachel's head thumped into my belly, winding me with the immense contact. The bear continued the rampant charge.  
Only a tree could stop her.  
My organs burst as my body was crushed between the tree and the collision-shocked Grizzly. Blood splashed onto the ground from where my belly split open with the force of the blow.  
I gargled as the blue-green liquid flowed from my mouth, dripping down over my fading body, and onto my struggling, weak limbs.  
Marco hulked over, his gorilla nostrils flaring and wafting hot breath upon me. He craned his arm and bundled his hands into a fist, directed for my dizzy head.  
He flung forward, and for the shortest moment before my life was ended, I saw everything. I saw Cassie's body lying lifeless on the ground. I saw the others crowd around, desperate to bring her back from the edge. I saw Rachel and Jake demorphing, tears rolling from reforming human eyes. I saw Ax getting daintily back to his hooves, and holding a bloodied nose.  
And I saw a being neither of life or death. Someone, or something, with no real physical being, but with such a powerful presense that he filled my senses to exploding, and as Marco's huge fist pounded me to somewhere unknown, the being spoke to me the words: "You did it."

The smoke from the burning ashes that remained of the fire rose like a whirlpool in the centre of the camp. A light drizzle was not enough to break the steady, simple dance of the leaves, but collected on the buds and branches to trickle in little waterfalls around the cool, dry nest.  
My eyes watched an empty sky, the stars hidden by a light blanket of cloud. Everybody was asleep, the quiet snores and shuffles barely audible over the patting rain. Tal's arm wrapped over me like a blanket, and he lay curled up cosily behind me, tail and legs twitching in some distant dream.  
Dreams were not always as comforting though, for the last dream seemed all too real and had woken me from my peaceful slumber. I had never before felt such a presense, nor experienced such a real and disturbing nightmare.  
But I could not let it get me down, for it would only instill further worry into the others. They depended on me to be strong, and to be able to deal with any problem that I was faced with. The last few days, though, had made me feel weak and sick.  
Since the nightmare, my eyes had refused to close. I just wanted to watch the night fold back into day, and awaited the first meal. But the night seemed cruelly eternal.  
There sat one lone Hork-Bajir by the burned out fire. She had crawled from her tree on the other side of our camp and seeked to reap the last moments of the fading ashes. Huddling by the pile, she wept lightly.  
Nakur was a widow. Her husband was killed under yeerk captivity.  
Maybe I should have gone to her side, comforted her. I was the only one awake to notice her. For some reason, I could not bring myself to do it, and I watched over her grieving, knowing that my presense was of no use to her, but for a barrier to a harsh reality. Time would heal this wound, but the process was still slow to take its effect, and my comfort could only prolong her inner pain.  
So she sat alone, and watched the last of the ashes burn to nothing. She would cry herself to sleep.  
A longing for brighter emotion brought me back to the arm that was wrapped around my chest. Tal had stopped his dream-induced figiting, his body lay curled around mine, almost like a ball.  
I laid myself closer into him. His arm wrapped around me tighter as my movement brought him briefly back into consciousness, but he fell asleep again as soon as he was awake. It was so warm cuddled up next to him, and I enclosed my body around his, the love I shared for him taking over everything else that hovered aimlessly in my mind.  
Never before had I felt so complete than at that moment, and the beauty of it all slipped me into much needed sleep.

White.  
White upon empty white.  
No temperature. No ground. No noise. A dead landscape of nothingness.  
Nothing but me.  
Sniffing brought me no sign but my own smell. The blank background that held me was inexistant.  
For a while I stood frozen in position, senses peeled. I remembered the last time I came here. That was something I wished not to witness again.  
But as time went by I began to doubt its return. Somehow, things were different, like I was in some place completely different.  
No sudden movements. Just me.  
Though not for long.  
What happened next was nothing short of spectacular.  
Two beams of light flew from the corners of my eyes, connecting to a point several metres before me. They were a pair, like blue and green ribbons floating by, knotted perfectly between. They swivelled and twisted but never touched my side.  
More were arriving, springing from none and every direction, collecting to a mass of blue and green, a phenominal being. They formed and wrapped, and from the beautuful colour rose a creature of unimaginable strength. One of brilliance and genius. So magnificent that it beat me to the ground and I trembled. The creation ceased, yet the power seemed to oscillate and grow, boasting its superiority over my puny body.  
A force brang me softly back to my feet and lifted my head to observe a masterpiece. What this masterpiece was, was not in my power to describe.  
But I knew one thing: This form was here simply for first impression. It was here to make me feel weak.  
I could not let it break me down. Standing as tall as my legs could hold, I bellowed.  
"Who are you?"  
Any confidence that remained within was voice that reflected back was not audible, but a figment of my own mind.  
**I am the Ellimist**  
Oh...  
I had heard of the Ellimist only in the stories that Tobias had shared with me around the camp fire. His opinions were not totally clear, and it had occurred to me that the Ellimist was similar to the human idea of a God, but according to his own words, 'uninterrupting'. The extent of its disruptive tendencies, though, seemed debatable.  
From what I could remember, Tobias had never mentioned such a sight as this.  
**Toby Hamee, it is an honour to finally meet you.**  
My throat was choked, and I just seemed to grunt at him. Nerves were getting the better of me.  
"E-Ellimist..." Words were not coming as easily as I would have hoped. "I... I..."  
**Would you prefer to see me in a more familiar body, young Toby?**  
I nodded meekly.  
Before I knew it, the blue-green blob had contracted and melted away, the blue and green ribbon-like structure drained like a slow motion explosion into the white. What remained was much more spectacular.  
A third of the body was instantly recognisable, being of Hork-Bajir. Three large green horn-blades protruded formally from the forehead to the top of the neck, fronted by a snout armoured in a beak-like shell coating the upper jaw. Blades sleeved the arms and legs, and tipped the end of the tail.  
But the rest of the two thirds did not belong.  
The eyes were a bright blue, with black circular pupils, and ridged with black lashes and pale skin. The torso and arms were strong and muscular, but the pale skin continued down from the face, and hair sprung over the mammalian arms and chest.  
Finally, but most notably, the body had not four, but six limbs. He had an andalites frame, and the long, swift andalite tail.  
All the main features though, were a mix of Hork-Bajir and human.  
It was stranger, but easier to look at. He was now of a similar size to me.  
His voice was no longer implanted into my head. "Is this form preferable?"  
"Yes." This was still quite awe-inspiring for me, but I rubbed my eyes and regained a positive stature. "I am dreaming, am I not?"  
"You are sleeping, Toby." His Hork-Bajir snout grinned. "Your physical form, anyway..."  
"Are you telling me that my presense here is only physcological?" I shifted my weight awkwardly. "It feels so real, moreso than any dream I have had before."  
"Well, this is no dream."  
His gaze was unmoving, boring down on me. Unblinking. My own sense of pride ordered me to continue eye-contact, and show him that I was not one to back down easily in the face of such magnificence.  
"Why am I here?" I asked.  
"You are here for many reasons. Namely, questions and a favour. You are the one I have chosen."  
His reasons were still unclear, and his tone suggested risk. My curiousity pushed on. "What has turned you to me, Ellimist?"  
A dainty human arm raised before him, towards me. "You are Toby Hamee. What else is needed to say."  
I grunted distastefully. His flattery was not going to work.  
He smirked. "I chose you because I believe you are wise beyond your years. Despite your young age, you have guided your people through war and given them a safe home here on the planet Earth. Under you they have thrived, and your work in human politics has ensured a life of peace among them. No longer are they suffering. Thanks to you."  
"But it was not all my doing." I informed. "Cassie has done more for their well-being than I ever will. Surely, she is more suited for your causes."  
"No, Toby." He shook his head and smiled. "You are the one I have chosen."  
I scratched my neck and found myself more focused on the unusual andalite-human-hork-bajir body. I shook my head. "May I ask of these 'causes'?"  
He laughed snidely. "Patience Toby, patience. Could we not talk for a while?"  
"I am not in the mood. I wish to sleep. Your intrusions have held my eyes open for the last three nights."  
"Excuse me? My intrusions? I believe that this is the only time I have contacted you."  
For that moment I refused to believe him. This place seemed so familiar to the one I experienced when I was attacked by another me, the dream that had lost me so much sleep over the last few nights.  
"I have had terrible dreams." I told him sorrowfully. "This place had led me to believe that you were responsible, but if that is not the case I am sorry for the accusation."  
"Perhaps something is troubling you."  
"What could be troubling me? I am happy now. I have a home, and friends. And now I have Tal."  
"And what about the Animorphs?"  
Suddenly, I realised. The Animorphs had left to search out a ship near Earth. They had not yet returned.  
I began to pant as my heart rate fluctuated. Now I knew what the Ellimist was hinting at. Something bad was happening up there, and my mind sensed it. Out of worry or some extra sense, I knew.  
"They are on an investigation to find an andalite vessel." I assumed. "Are you telling me that they are in danger?"  
"Yes, Toby. They fight as we speak here." His expression had faded to a worrying seriousness. "They arrived at the andalite vessel nights ago. Aboard, they found what was left of the andalite crew, who informed them of two ships. The Blade Ship was one of them. They gave chase, but upon finding the ship, they also found a being named 'The One', an entity of great strength that has taken control of the rogue force."  
I shook my head and drooped it to my chest. So many thoughts filled my head, that they collided and cancelled out, deserting me with nothing to say.  
"Do not threat, young Toby, there is still hope. So far, there has been minimal casualties."  
"Minimal?"  
"The andalite Aximilli-Esgarrouth-Isthill was aboard the ambushed vessel when it was taken by the Blade ship. He has been taken by the 'The One'. So far, the attempts to save him have failed."  
Lifting my tired head, I regained organised thought. "I remember what happened during our final battle. A small number of yeerks left on the Vissers Blade ship as we took control of the Pool ship. Is this the vessel you speak of?"  
"Yes. There are few yeerks onboard, but they have gained under 'The One', and with the Escafil Device have now become too much for your friends."  
Briefing myself over the memories of the battle in the engineering block on the Pool Ship caused my throat to clog. I lifted a claw to the side of my head and closed my eyes.  
The Ellimist continued: "Your friends fight bravely, but it is a battle with an unsure outcome." He paused, and tilted his head back on a mixed human-andalite neck. "I can show you."  
In all honesty, I did not wish to see, but as a fierce whirring noise sounded, and the haunting white background began to mutate, it became obvious that I had no choice in the matter.  
We stumbled – or at least I stumbled – on cold metal, so different from the soft grass of my home. Around us, in what seemed to be an empty control room, were panels that buzzed and flickered, but by them stood no signs of life. As I rose to my feet, I shook off some dirt and padded around. My claws, far to my surprise, made no noise. Not even my nails 'tapping' onto the hard flooring.  
Behind me stood the Ellimist, still in his hybrid form. He looked around, but he appeared so familiar with it all. I knew that he had been watching in this room many times before.  
"This is the Blade Ship." I told him. "I recognise the technology."  
He did not treat me with a reply, instead tapping his hooves against the mute ground as if waiting for something...  
Just as I began to make myself comfortable, there was a loud bang. It guided my snout in the direction of the main doorway that remained closed, but battered.  
BANG!  
This time it was louder.  
Sidestepping, I made my way to the Ellimist's position. Since it was apparent that I was not even able to make sound, I would have been pretty useless in any sort of battle.  
As the third consequetive bang shook the series of controls panels, the door gave way dramatically, and in fell a large white ball, followed by a misplaced array of fur and skin, bundling together into the centre of the once silent room.  
The white ball unrolled, and roared ferociously, waving a huge Polar Bear paw in the air and thrusting againt the floor, sending out a teeth-chattering shudder under our feet.  
It was as if an explosion had occurred. The place was alive with flurrying colour, flitting around the room, weaving in and out of each other. A tiger was last to burst through the open doorway, and launched frantically for the neck of of the enraged white bear.  
I turned to the Ellimist. "How long have these fights been going on for?"  
"About one Earth week. As you can see, the Animorphs are struggling."  
He was correct.  
The figure that stood out most to me was that of my own mother. Ket Halpak. Tobias in morph. And he was missing an arm.  
I had to look away. Not only for the sight of Tobias' weakening morph, but seeing my mother in this state was a little too much. I had never formally agreed for him to use her morph again...  
"Ellimist, I do not want to see this anymore."  
"Who would?"  
An obvious hint that I could not simply get away. I could have argued, but scratched off the thought. He had brought me here for a reason.  
The fight was fast becoming a frenzy, as more and more Earth animals joined in. The small crew that Jake had brought was far outnumbered by the morph-able yeerks, and the battle was turning into a slaughter.  
Jake, limping and scarred, was pondering over retreat. Staring from a corner over the rampage of morphed human-controllers, he realised it was a battle not worth continuing. That is, if he wanted his allies to survive.  
They began to retreat. Marco blockaded the doorway, taking the brunt of a lion that thrust itself at his ready fist. The others escaped one by one under his tree-trunk arm.  
As my mother... Tobias finally broke out from a small scrap and rolled out, the final to escape, Marco reached forward and with pace hoisted up the once proud door, and taking the opportunity of the yeerks fighting amongst themselves, fitted it neatly back in place. The retreat was successful, but that would not have been a desired outcome.  
The controllers were lost in confusion. They looked around at the dozen of other Earth creatures, wondering who was who. After a thought-speak discussion, the realisation that all the enemy had escaped dawned on them, and they demorphed.  
Minutes later, I was staring at a room at semi-naked human controllers frantically mending the control panels that had succumed to the most damage. Some were searching for survivors from the still animal bodies staining the floor.  
"You see, Toby?" The Ellimists long absent voice disturbed me. "All the human controllers on board the blade ship have acquired the power to morph. They lack experience, but with their numbers it may not be long before the Animorphs and their allies are defeated."  
"If they continue such battles, they may wear down the yeerks." I suggested.  
"How long though, until they themselves are worn down?"  
I sighed. "That is the problem..."  
WHOOSH!  
And with that, we were back to where we started. Surrounded by nothing but white.  
He stood before me again, looking a little more concerned than earlier. His human eyes were closed, and he rocked suspisiously from side to side, humming.  
Watching him was beginning to quiver my nerves. Something about him made me uncomfortable.  
"Ellimist, please explain why you have brought me here." I said, my patience wearing thinner.  
Worryingly, his responsiveness was fading. My words were left to hang awkwardly between us.  
"Tell me, Hork-Bajir. How will this war end?"  
War? As far as I was concerned, the war here, from Earths point of view, was over.  
"I am sorry, Ellimist, but the war eludes us now. I have no relevant information with which to answer-"  
"How will it end?"  
I thought for a moment, bowing my head and trying to grasp at any hint he had thrown.  
But only questions came to me. "Do you mean to say that the war is still here?"  
He smiled frightfully, eyes reopeninng and gawking forcefully down on me. "Yeerks forces are spread, but are numerous. As long as they remain active, the war will continue. The andalites will not simply leave them alone to drift in space if there is the slightest chance of a collaborative resistance."  
"How will this effect Earth?"  
"If the yeerks were to put together a resistance, where will they go? What is the nearest inhabitable planet with fresh hosts? Chances of such a resistance are few, but not to be discounted."  
Could this really happen? Could the remaining yeerks regroup here on Earth?  
I returned to the original question. "If the yeerks return... we will have sufficient-"  
"No, Toby. How will it end for _you_?"  
An empty silence filled the space between us, our eyes examining each other.  
"I... do not know."  
He sighed, rubbing at his forehead with a tiny human thumb . "There is something else I need to show you."  
Then his eyelids sealed shut.  
"Why are you asking these questions?" I reiterated.  
Nothing. The frozen hybrid fixed against the dead white setting.  
"Ellimist?" I shuffled forward discreetly.  
Still he was silent. I asked again, and received the same reaction.  
Finally, the human pupil returned.  
"Will you answer my question now?" I grumbled, feeling yet more agitated.  
But he continued to pay no attention. I waved my hand to him in hope of breaching his meditative state.  
"Who are you?"  
I froze instantly. The mysterious voice came from elsewhere. The Ellimists eyes were not trained on me, but past me at a new stranger.  
And I pivoted to the voice.  
It could not possibly be him...  
"I am the Ellimist." The once captivating sound of the Ellimist was nothing more than white noise now. "I have been expecting you."  
"What is this place?" The Hork-Bajir who was stood opposite the Ellimist shook in panic. "I demand to know what you have done!"  
"You are dead, Dak Hamee."  
Dak Hamee... My great-grandfather...  
"No. I cannot be dead!" His face belittled the pain and the shock.  
"I am afraid you are, Dak."  
"This is a dream!" He yelled in pure disbelief. "They need me! Aldrea needs me!"  
"It is too late. You are dead, and there is no going back." Ellimist said harshly.  
The truth was infecting him, burning him from the inside. "Where is Seerow?"  
"Your son and the others survived the latest yeerk onslaught." The Ellimist hesitated, and showing no sense of sympathy or gentleness, followed up. "But their lives will not be the same. Aldrea, your wife, has been split from the group and wanders alone on yeerk territory. Your son, Seerow, has been taken by the yeerks."  
The force of the blow was unbelievable. I never thought my great-grandfather, a seer of such great acheivement, honour and pride, could simply collapse to the ground and weep, but that is what I witnessed. The sheer reality was too much, even for him.  
The Ellimist though, showed no remorse, and once the main outbreak of Dak's frustration had subsided, he continued. "I have brought you here to reflect on what you have done."  
Dak's recovery was surprisingly swift, but I sensed that his emotions were being firmly blockaded inside. "Where is 'here'? All I see is white!"  
"This is Limbo. A dimension between life and death. You will soon be sent elsewhere."  
Dak stood high, once again looking like the hero I had heard so much about. "Why do you wish to 'reflect' on my doings?"  
"You alone have proven a strong resistance to the brunt of the yeerk army. With few resources you have performed miracles."  
Dak glared. "We have lost. How could you possibly call that a miracle?"  
"Without you," Continued the Ellimist. "The Hork-Bajir would be lost and confused. They would have been completely enslaved before they had any idea of what was happening. They fought for their lives under your command."  
"Sometimes I regret it." Dak said. "My people were never born to fight, let alone in a war! And now we have lost everything..."  
"No, Dak, not everything. Things may appear bleak now, but for as long as the Hork-Bajir will is strong, they can survive."  
"As tools for the yeerks..." Dak added, seething from the teeth.  
The Ellimist smiled. "There are forces out there that may prove strong enough to rescue your species. As you may have noticed, the andalite military cares little for anyone other than themselves, but they are not the only race out there. I do not agree with the yeerk movement, and I personally would rather see the Hork-Bajir as they were before. Simple harvesters."  
"So why did you do nothing about it?"  
"I cannot and will not interupt in the proceedings. Now though, I believe that with help, I can provide your species with a chance of freedom."  
Dak's blatant rage at the Ellimist was futile, and he knew it. All he had to believe now, were his words.  
"If you do, Ellimist, I would like to request something."  
"I would do my best to fulfill any request." The Elliist said smugly.  
"Then I request for my son to see a free land. A land where the Hork-Bajir live with no fear or hate, just like how we used to live. Otherwise I fear that I will never rest, not even in death."  
"Yes, Dak." The Ellimist replied. "I will try, but I can not ensure freedom just yet."  
For what seemed like the thousandth time, the Ellmist relaxed himself and closed his human eyes.  
"Tell me, Hork-Bajir. How will this war end?"  
Dak hesitated, his breathing shattered and weak. "How will it end? I could not possibly know."  
"How will it end?" The Ellimist was determined to collect any type of answer.  
"Well, I..." A pause, where his red eyes diverted to one side and dilated. "I see another race." Dak whispered, amazed. He pointed towards the Ellimists face. "Your eyes. Those are the eyes I see."  
The Ellimist grinned.  
Dak's strange images repeated. "And I see..."  
He stared at me.  
And then he was gone.  
The Ellimists deep voice referred to me. "I know what you are thinking, Toby."  
I twisted to him, feeling hugely overloaded.  
"You wonder if I have kept my promise to Dak."  
I mumbled incoherrently. Nothing of interest came from it.  
"I said that I would try my best to fufill his wish. Unfortunately, the opportunity to perform this has not come along."  
"No, Ellimist, you lied to him..." I grilled. "We have our peace, even for only a small amount of time."  
My legs wobbled, and things started to fade. I fell and landed on my backside.  
"I keep my promises, and I always have done."  
"Liar..."  
He sighed. "Before you go, Toby. You must make a choice. Though I cannot interupt directly, I can give others the opportunities to change something. And-"  
"What are the choices?" I forced.  
"I have the power to perform resurrection. And you have the choice as to who I can revive."  
The white melted to black, and the Ellimists hybrid form with it. I was leaving, and as the sensation of re-entering my own body became apparant, I heard the options.  
"Rachel, or your father."


	10. Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10 (Memory 1)

"Hold!"  
They obeyed, freezing in place and looking for the source of alarm. I stood before the disorganised ranks holding out an oustretched arm, observing the two empty corridors that bent away in two direction. Silence befelled the army I led.  
Jara Hamee, my father, padded to my side. "Where we go?"  
I did not know. The location we had to reach had never been briefed during the plan, nor had the limit of time. It was vital that we reached the engineering desk to secure the area and those within. This was life or death.  
None from the compressed crowd of Hork-Bajir could find a word of guidance. Not even them, former hosts aboard this ship, had memory of the decks.  
My response was simple. "I do not know."  
The message was not well-received by anyone. Confidence was low enough right now, and not knowing where to go was definitely not beneficial.  
We were somewhere aboard the Yeerk Pool Ship, wandering aimlessly though empty corridors and rooms, acting as a platoon of patrolling Hork-Bajir-controllers whenever we were spotted. A lot of the time it worked. Other times it did not. We locked the unconsious controllers who had spotted us away in any spare room or locker we could find.  
Storming down each and every corridor was getting us nowhere, and a different approach was needed.  
All we needed was the fork in the corridor. The majority stood hidden away around a corner and waited. I and my father stood either side of the main route, holding a couple of weapons we had stolen, acting as guards. A volunteer ran off in the opposite direction along the corridor.  
The plan was simple. The volunteer would find a controller, then bring them here for capturing and questioning.  
"Remember, father: when the yeerk walks past, grab."  
"Jara grab!" He exclaimed. I shushed him.  
As time went by we began to get worried. There grew a feeling of responsibility to go in search of our comrade who had been gone for quite some time, but as the thought began to cross our minds, we heard the thumping of footsteps moving towards us.  
We stood at firm attention. Statues leant against the walls.  
Our companion was first to pass, giving us little to no notice. After him came the victim, sporting a light blue band over his right shoulder.  
Timing was vital, for he had a gun pointed to the back of the volunteer. Fortunately, father knew that this needed perfection, and he provided it.  
His arms were lightning fast, wrapping tightly around the chest and upper neck of the controller and pulling his body backwards. I had to be just as quick, and I slammed my tail against the weapon he clutched in his claw. He fired, but the shot was disturbed. The volunteer yelped out loud, and stared down to see a finger missing.  
We were lucky. He ran off back to the others.  
Meanwhile, my father had his bladed arm pressed against the naked throat of the controller. He snarled and kicked his legs, but it was just a show.  
I grabbed the loose weapon that sat by my feet, and held it to his forehead. "I would like to know where the Engineering Deck is."  
A weak attempt to kick the weapon from my hand came close to throwing me off. I stepped back, still holding the gun to his face, and stomped firmly on his left leg. The crack echoed, unending through the empty corridor.  
"Tell me, or I will rip you from your skull." I threatened.  
Not a word uttered from his snout, bringing on the breaking of his second leg. Blood began to seep onto the metal flooring.  
He screamed in desperate agony, but I coiled my claw around his snout and held it shut. We did not need the attention of more controllers responding to distant shouting.  
The part of me riddled with guilt was hidden away within, as I broke the first leg for a second time, further down the shin. I grew tired of the yeerks refusal to give answers. "Tell me where I can find the Engineering Deck."  
He stared ferociously up at me and spoke muffled words beneath my hand. "Never."  
One finger danced daringly over the trigger. His yeerk patriotism was weakening, as his anger slowly turned to fear on his snarling face.  
"Last chance."  
A nod. He was going to play along. I released his snout, but left the gun trailed to his face.  
"The Engineering Deck... It's..." He whispered to his self and closed his trembling eyes. Finally, the answer came to him. "Down two levels. Front end of the ship."  
"Thank you." With that, I raised a fist and pounded him hard in the face.  
My father said nothing and hoisted up the unconcious body. We tore up a floor plate and gently dropped him in, before securing the plate again. He would be able to smash his way out once he could figure out where he was, but that would take some time. We did our best to make sure to keep any controllers we found alive, but restrained.  
So now we knew where to go, and we continued our way through the winding tunnels. Down towards Engineering.  
My father was showing an instinctual vow of protection over me, insistant on walking before me in case of any ambush attack. "Toby stay back." He would say, eyes contantly turning back to me as if he thought I would suddenly disappear into thin air.  
It turned out that I was the only child within our bundled group, here to receive orders from our allies in other areas of the ship and organise our tactics to sieze Engineering. All other children and their mothers, with those too weak or wounded to fight were safe down on Earth, gratefully protected by a military segment. My mother was one of those left behind to care for my younger sibling, born not long ago. They knew that a number of us would not be coming back. Maybe none of us.  
The thought drained into the back of my mind as we almost collapsed down to the next floor. After eventually finding our way down, and knocking down several human and hork-bajir controllers in the process, we had to find a way down to the next floor. The layout of this Pool Ship was fast becoming frustrating.  
My hopes were on our allies, who were infiltrating the ship elsewhere. Ocassional orders were sent to me from Jake in thought-speech, which would inform me on the situation on his end. I was thankful that I could not respond back to him, for we were getting nowhere, and were falling behind schedule.  
Despite short-falls and the frequent dead-ends, we made it down to the next floor, and sure enough, we were being directed towards the front end of the ship and engineering. Small orange-brown arrows illuminated on protrusions that stuck out from the ceiling after a set number of yards, and were bound to lead to engineering.  
The area was also busy, bustling with controllers itching for something more exciting to do. They were not really working at all. Nor did they seem aware of the situation Jake was describing to me over thought-speak. If anything, I would say that they did not even care.  
This was fortunate for us because we were able to sway by unnoticed. They barely even looked up at us, thinking us as just another group of Hork-Bajir-controllers making our way down to engineering to carry out strenuous daily chores. The lack of reaction to the ships infiltration by the controllers was both strange and quite a relief.  
Planning was vital to this part of the mission. We, a collection of nervous Hork-Bajir armed with but four small weapons and a worryingly empty plan, were to take control of one of the busiest parts of the ship. An estimate told us that engineering would be guarded by more than a hundred of the Vissers blue-bands if any situation on the ship were to break out, no matter how minor. The Visser was on high alert due to experiences over the last few months, which was bad news for us.  
Without blue bands over our shoulders, we looked out of place. Several more cautious controllers were giving us suspicious glares, and whispered in each others ears. My tail was twitching awkwardly with nerves, and it seemed like the further we pierced through the engineering deck, the more attention we were receiving.  
All we needed was somewhere empty to collect ourselves before we got to the serious business. The others needed to know their roles, or the mission would be failed before we even started. Around us were many doors going off in other directions, but they were all crawling with blue-bands, holding big, nasty looking weapons. Our options were becoming limited.  
But luck was on our side. We came to a much quieter section on the outskirts of what was the main engineering station, where only a few Hork-Bajir-controllers patrolled, paying little attention to anything other tha self-grooming. There was a doorway hidden in a corner by stacks upon stacks of cleaning equipment. This was an unattrative mess of mops, brushes and boxes that would have most likely been bought at a human store, identifiable from the blatant human design, which was ugly even in the best cases. The auto-door was peeping open, held from shutting by a broom that had fallen over the opening, just enough to fit my claws in and pull it open.  
It turned out though that I would not need to, for a pale-skinned hand reached around the edge and pushed it back before I could get close.  
From the door stepped a human in dirty old clothing, holding a vacuum cleaner. He ignored us at first, literally throwing the heavy object into the pile of horribly scented cleaning equipment. He took a lazy look at his watch, then turned to us.  
"What do you want?"  
We all looked at each other. No... they all looked at me.  
"We need to use this room." I told him, putting on my best stressed-yeerk impression.  
"Janitors only." He chewed loudly on gum, leaning on the broom stick he had picked from the the doorway.  
I returned to the failsafe that I had come to use on a regular basis, giving him my sternest glare. "Visser's orders. Let us in, or go and argue it with him."  
How strange I found it when he did not even flinch. Instead, he sighed in annoyance, and spat his gum with pinpoint accuracy into an old black bucket. "What do a buncha smelly space lizards wanna do in a janitors closet?"  
For a moment, I had absolutely no way of responding. He seemed unphased by the threat, and he was quite a large human. How much of this was actually muscle, I did not know.  
"If you do not let us in, we will force our way in."  
"Do I care?"  
"I... You..."  
"Go ahead. I don't care one bit. It's only where I eat and sleep."  
The sarcasm I sensed made it seem like this was a regularity for this scruffy human male. I gave the order to the others to enter, and they did, moving single-file through the narrow door, as the janitor put another piece of gum in his mouth, uninterested.  
Before I walked into the small room, I spoke to him. "We wish to be alone. Do not come in after us."  
"I go where I want." He frowned at me and snuffled loudly. "And you ain't foolin me. I know why you're here."  
My legs shuffled uneasily. "We are here under Visser's orders." I reinstated.  
"You ain't here under Visser's orders." He smirked. "You're those free ones that the Visser's been so sore about, and he'd be so pleased if he found you..."  
It was shocking to see that the only controller who had seen us as intruders was the janitor, and it even disturbed me slightly. Nevertheless, he had to be taken care of, and I showed him a ready fist.  
Still not even the lightest twitch from the irresponsive human. "Even if I do tell him, nothin'll change. I'll just carry on cleanin' up these damn floors all day every day."  
This was by far the strangest situation that I had ever been involved in. What should I have done?  
"Why should I care if we lose the ship? Means I won't have to be cleanin' nothin' no more. No doubt it's better than this. I don't even get paid, so why do I have to go out my own way to be yelled at by that useless horse? I'd be better off if we lost this here ship."  
His inceasant blabbering was holding off my fist. I even began to lower it, as his moaning gave me the feeling that he did not intend to tell anyone about our presense.  
I stopped him before he could barrage me with yet more complaints. "If you mean to say that you will stay silent on the matter, than I do not need to incapacitate you, but you must come with us." I pointed to the room, and with a bland sidewards glance he waddled in obediently. I assumed it was obedience...  
His presense drew all attention from my friends, who were sat around and having a rest. The door closed behind us, and with my tail I locked it firmly, whilst my eyes kept watch on the janitor. He walked slowly to the other end of the room.  
He stopped by a pile of white boxes that were stacked neatly against the wall, and he signalled to me. I trotted over to him and past the others, who were huddling up together to plan.  
Peering through the boxes, I saw what the janitor was drawing my attention to. A Blue-band was slumped in a small wooden seat, hidden away from sight, his head back against the wall. Snoring was heard.  
"Lazy." Commented the janitor. "Why is it _my_ room that has become the hideout? They think 'that good ol' janitor'll will hide us while we sit 'n' do nothin'. I have to work all day an' all night, scrubbing up dirt, mopping up-"  
"Please be quiet."  
"Oh sure, shut me up. Everybody else complains to me, but _they_ never shut up..."  
The blue-band was fast asleep. Two little bits of tissue oscillated amusingly in his nostrils as he breathed, obviously the janitor having his fun. It was a shame that we would have to disturb the controllers peaceful sleep.  
Although it was against my morals to attack someone while they slept, I had no choice in such a predicament. Stepping silently up to the blue-band was difficult on the metal floor, but the tapping of my claws failed to wake him. As I reached an appropriate distance, I knocked him into a further state of unconciousness.  
Grabbing him roughly by the arms, I dragged his limp body into the populated area of the room. The others crowded around cautiously and gazed at me as if I knew what needed to be done.  
I threw away the blue band from his shoulder and pondered to myself. There appeared to be no place in this room to lock him securely, nor could we throw him out the door. It all left one risky solution.  
Carefully I placed my hands on either side of his head and pulled it upwards. I knelt down by him and placed my ear by his own, in hope that the yeerk inside would be fooled into thinking he was being handed another host. Without his hosts eyes, he was blind to the world around him, and the scent of a new ear could possibly tempt him out.  
Silence fell around me. The others looking bewildered, and my father looked like he had been shot as I felt something slimy wriggle against my ear. Pulling slightly away from the controllers head, I forced the yeerk to reach and stretch that little bit further.  
It locked itself to the edge of my ear. Without restraint I flung a wild grab at the long yeerk slug that was connecting our ears, and swiped it away before it could flatten and penetrate fully into my head. The yeerk landed with a splat metres behind us, and writhed pathetically in the sight of all in the room.  
In the ecstacy of success I crawled over and grabbed the frightened slug. It struggled and paniced within my firm grasp, and I knew that within the complex yeerk mind he begged and pleaded for mercy. Perhaps there was a way to spare this yeerks life, and if it were that easy I would have done, but in this case, a sudden demise seemed kindest.  
I crushed the yeerk underfoot, yet the awkward silence within the room was not lifted. Every soul within was frozen in place as reality took centre-stage.  
That is, every soul but for the janitor. "Now why did you go and do that? I just done cleaned this floor!"

Alert was high as we sat huddled in the small janitors room. Most of us were sat against the walls, preparing ourselves for what was to come, and some of us – me included - were hunched over in the middle, formulating some sort of plan.  
The recently liberated Hork-Bajir was in a recovery period, slowly coming to the realisation that we had freed him, only then to be told that he may very well die in battle. The janitor was searching under an unkept bed for something. Between constant complaining of our intrusion, he had told us that his yeerk name was Hrasun-204. It was near impossible to keep him quiet.  
Much to my surprise, my father was bringing up the majority of the battle plans. I got the impression that he was trying to impress me, but although he had the determination and the drive, his ideas were not going to get us far.  
"All go to engineering." He would say. "Take it. We win!"  
"It will not be that simple, father." I told him. "I wish it was."  
"Lots of yeerks. We small." Another helpfully informed us.  
"Yes." I replied glumly. "But if we can fight them in narrow areas we may be able to hold them off."  
We were interrupted by Hrasun as his forced his way rudely between two Hork-Bajir, his needlessly negative attitude derailing the tense atmosphere. "Out of my way!"  
Our conversation stopped and attention was turned to him. "What is it, Hrasun?" I asked.  
In his hand he revealed a pad full of paper. I took it and skimmed through at what showed to be map of the entire deck. My eyes went wide and I stared at him, surprised.  
He shrugged and leant on his broom. "Anything to get outta this damn job. Even if it means helpin' a buncha smelly lizards."  
I smiled. "Thank you. I will make sure that you will not have to continue with your job."  
For the first time, he smiled and nodded in appreciation. "You ain't bad."  
So we got to work, flicking through the pages of crudely drawn planes that connected each room and corridor with limited but sufficient detail. I was able to piece together the many pages and layed it out on the cramped floor.  
The deck was larger than I thought, branched off into different areas by long maze corridors. The Engineering control room area was connected to the rest of the deck by one single large straight. This was where we needed to go.  
Our plan was simple. We would enter the corridor and lock ourselves in. Attention would soon be picked up by yeerks on either side, and they would break through the doors. The doors on either side were narrow, and few could get through at a time, so we would have advantage of numbers.  
Once the bulk of the engineering decks had been dealt with, we would carry on through to the main engineering sect and work our way to the control room at the far side. If we were to capture this, we would have control and the ship would be ours.  
Unfortunately, the area was heavily guarded by blue-bands, and sheer numbers may make it an almost impossible task. Many on both sides would be wounded or killed.  
My father pointed at two rooms that were diverted to the sides of the main control room, with corridors moving further back towards the sect entrance. "Come on both sides." He said.  
He was right. Even after breaching the area and weaving through the maze to the control room, yeerks would no doubt attempt to trap us on either side. That was, unless we split into all three directions, which would ultimately mean that would could strike from all sides in the control room aswell.  
Of course, explaining all of this to the others was a complicated process. They looked at me blankly and I would repeat it over and over again until some of them understood. Not surprisingly, the newly liberated Hork-Bajir was more clued up than most, and became a sort of translator for the rest.  
My father, on the other hand, discussed the plan with me, pointing out little flaws that I had missed and would tell me whenever I appeared reckless. He knew a suicide mission when he saw one.  
"Jara go this way." He said, pointing to the left side of the path as it split in three.  
"Then I shall go this way." I added, indicating the central path, headed straight down a shorter, yet busier route to the control room. "We need someone to the lead the rest down the other route." After brief discussion, we agreed that the newly freed Hork-Bajir would be best for the job, and he was happy to accept the leadership.  
The three of us sat around the map. We needed to keep communication between the split corridors that conjoined again at the control room, and we concluded that Nuwah, the ex-blue-band, would send one of his troops up into a vent that sat above the corridor where he lead his group. The troop would have access to the vent system that moved above the entire deck. A series of knocking would be used to transfer messages, for as long as the messenger went unnoticed. The Hork-Bajir in the vent would position theirself above each corridor and knock: Once meant 'all clear', twice meant 'reinforcements needed', and three times meant that an entire group had been wiped out on one side.  
The latter would also indicate our loss. If one side was unblocked, then we would end up surrounded on both sides.  
If all went according to plan, and communication was successful, our timing would mean that we would surround the control room and allow no escape to those inside. This, again, would work better if we were to sustain our numbers.  
Eventually, we had a completed plan. We all agreed and began to deliver it to the others, who were assembled against the far wall. They were split into three equal sized groups, each armed with but a single dracon beam. A messenger was picked from Nuwah's group, and the codes were thoroughly explained to him. Whether he could remember was only to be hoped.  
We were ready for battle.  
Using Hrasun's localised security cameras, we waited for our route to quieten and the majority of controllers to clear. Hrasun continued to express his dissatisfaction, and was impatiently waiting for us to leave. He complained of the smell, and how all we would accomplish would be giving him another week of hard labour.  
I did not care about what he said anymore. It was just a noise that I was silently wishing would leave me alone.  
Leaving him to watch over the hallways, I jogged over to the bundle of Hork-Bajir anxiously waiting for the signal to move out. Catching their attention was a challenge, being the shortest and youngest. I had to ask my father to help me.  
He grabbed a large box, and dropped it on the floor before the crowd, and yelped for the crowds focus. Standing on the wooden crate, I rose slightly over the rest, and heads quickly turned with interest towards me. I inhaled heavily and breezed over each pair of eyes. I started to speak to them.  
"For years our people have fought the yeerks. We have lived under them as their slaves, and even as we gained our freedom we have lived in fear of their return. Each one of you has had a yeerk crawl into your head, take you and control you, and each one of you was powerless against them. I may not have been infested myself, but I understand how you felt, and I know how much you wanted break free. The fear has not yet left, and you all have been forced to hide away in silence on a planet that is not your own." Everything was silent, listening.  
"But today is the day when we fear no more! Today is the day when we end this nightmare! After this day, we will no longer be living in war, nor will we suffer or hide away. Within these next few hours, we will be free, dead or alive!"  
A buzz waved through the crowd, the atmosphere suddenly changing.  
"Some of you will die today, and some will be wounded, but either you die for our people today, or you live the life of a slave, and I know that every Hork-Bajir alive would rather end their own life then spend a single moment trapped under yeerk control again. You die here today, but you die as heroes!"  
They roared out, brimming with a new confidence and raised their fists with power into the air. I grinned and joined them. "The memory of those lost here today will never die, and when our children live on a free world of their own, the story of this day will be retold with pride!"  
We were fired, but the sense of pride would provide little difference to the outcome of a difficult battle.  
"Now let us take this ship!"


End file.
